Anne McLaren
A pioneering developmental biologist whose groundbreaking research on mammalian embryos directly enabled the IVF revolution.
1927–2007 (age 80)·British scientist·Birthday: April 26·The Greatest Generation
Biography
Anne McLaren was a scientist who spent her life asking how life begins. Working with mice in post-war Cambridge, she and her colleague John Biggers achieved the first successful growth of mouse embryos outside the womb in 1958, a foundational experiment that proved mammalian development could happen in a lab dish. This work, elegant in its simplicity and profound in its implications, provided the essential biological blueprint for human in vitro fertilization. McLaren never shied from the ethical questions her science provoked, becoming a leading voice for responsible research and serving on the committee that oversaw the world's first IVF births. Her career was a quiet dismantling of barriers; she became the first woman to hold office in the Royal Society, not as a token, but as a respected peer whose curiosity about the very first stages of life changed the possibilities of family for millions.
The Greatest Generation
1901–1927
Grew up during the Depression, fought World War II, and built the postwar economic boom. Defined by shared sacrifice, institutional trust, and a belief that hard work and loyalty would be rewarded.
Anne was born in 1927, placing them squarely in The Greatest Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Anne Was Born
The biggest hits of 1927
#1 Movie
Wings
Anne's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1927Born
Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic; The Jazz Singer premieres
President: Calvin Coolidge"My Blue Heaven" — Gene Austin
1932Started school
Amelia Earhart flies solo across the Atlantic
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Night and Day" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Grand Hotel
1940Became a teenager
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
1943Could drive
Allies invade Sicily; Battle of Stalingrad ends
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,290Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I've Heard That Song Before" — Harry JamesBest Picture: Casablanca
1945Could vote
WWII ends; atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $4,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Sentimental Journey" — Les Brown & Doris DayBest Picture: The Lost Weekend
1948Turned 21
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1957Turned 30
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1967Turned 40
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1977Turned 50
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1987Turned 60
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 70
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 80
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
Key Achievements
- Co-authored the 1958 paper demonstrating the first successful in vitro culture and transfer of mammalian embryos, using mice.
- Her biological research provided the critical scientific foundation for the subsequent development of human IVF technology.
- Served as the Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society, the first woman ever to hold an executive role in the institution's history.
- Played a key ethical advisory role as a member of the Warnock Committee, which established the UK's framework for embryo research and fertility treatment.
Did You Know?
She was a competitive roller skater in her youth and reportedly skated to her laboratory at University College London.
During World War II, she drove trucks for the British army's mechanical transport division.
She was married to fellow scientist Donald Michie, with whom she collaborated, and they had three children.
McLaren was a committed Marxist and remained actively interested in the social implications of science throughout her life.
“It is not the sort of work that leads to sudden, dramatic breakthroughs, but to a slow, painstaking, step-by-step accumulation of knowledge.”
