Anne McLaren

Anne McLaren
Born 26 April 1927
London, England, UK
Died 7 July 2007 (aged 80)
England, UK
Citizenship British
Fields Developmental biology, animal genetics
Alma mater Oxford University
Academic advisors J. B. S. Haldane, Peter Medawar
Notable awards Royal Medal (1990)
Japan Prize (2002)
Spouse Donald Michie

Dame Anne Laura Dorinthea McLaren, DBE, FRS, FRCOG (26 April 1927 – 7 July 2007) was a leading figure in developmental biology. Her work helped lead to human in vitro fertilisation (IVF).[1] She received many honours for her contributions to science, including being made an officer of the Royal Society. She was the daughter of Henry McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway and Christabel McNaughten.

Early life

McLaren was the daughter of Sir Henry McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway and a Liberal MP, and Christabel Mary Melville MacNaghten. She was born in London and lived there until the war, when her family moved to their estate at Bodnant, North Wales.[2] As a child she appeared in the film version of H.G. Wells' novel Things to Come.[3]

She read zoology at Lady Margaret Hall Oxford University, later gaining an MA. Researching mite infestation of Drosophila under J. B. S. Haldane, she continued postgraduate studies at University College London from 1949, first under Peter Medawar on the genetics of rabbits and then on neurotropic murine viruses under Kingsley Sanders. She obtained her D.Phil in 1952 and married fellow student Dr Donald Michie on 6 October 1952.[1][4][5]

Early career and married life

As a couple, McLaren and Donald Michie worked together at University College, London from 1952 to 1955, and afterwards at the Royal Veterinary College, on the variation in the number of lumbar vertebrae in mice as a function of maternal environment. McLaren would later take up research on fertility in mice, including superovulation and superpregnancy.[4] During this period, they had three children:

However, the marriage ended in divorce in 1959, and McLaren moved to the Institute of Animal Genetics in Edinburgh to continue her research. The couple remained on good terms; Michie also moved to Edinburgh. The experience of raising children as a single career parent made McLaren a strong advocate for government assistance towards childcare.[1][4][5]

Later career

McLaren spent the next 15 years (1959–1974) at the Institute of Animal Genetics, studying a variety of topics related to fertility, development and epigenetics, including the development of mouse embryonic transfer, immunocontraception, and the skeletal characteristics of chimerae.[1][4][5]

In 1974, she left Edinburgh to become the Director of the MRC Mammalian Development Unit in London. In 1992, she retired from the Mammalian Development Unit and moved to Cambridge, joining the Wellcome/CRC Institute, later the Gurdon Institute. She was made a Fellow-Commoner of Christ's College, Cambridge in 1991.[4]

McLaren's work often took her outside the University. She was a member of the committee established to inquire into the technologies of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and embryology, which later produced the Warnock Report. She was a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, 1991-2000.[1]

Honours

In 1975, McLaren was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. From 1991 to 1996, she held the position of Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society and from 1992 to 1996 the position of Vice President; she was the first female officer in the society's 330-year history.[1] In 1986, she was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists for her pioneering work on fertility. In 1989 she presented the Ellison-Cliffe Lecture at the Royal Society of Medicine, and from 1990-95 she was the Fullerian Professor of Physiology at the Royal Institution.

In 1993, she was created a DBE. From 1993-94, she was president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1998 she was made a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.[5]

McLaren was a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics 1991-2000. In 2002, she was awarded the Japan Prize with Andrzej K. Tarkowski for their contributions to developmental biology and in 2007 she was awarded the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology.[1]

Death

McLaren (aged 80) and her ex-husband Donald Michie (aged 83) were killed in a road accident on 7 July 2007, when their car left the M11 motorway as they travelled from Cambridge to London.[6] There is a fund in the name of Anne McLaren for encouragement of scientific study.[1][7]

Trivia

Obituaries

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The Telegraph obituary for Prof. Dame Anne McLaren, 9 July 2007
  2. ↑ Franklin, Sarah (2007). "Obituary: Dame Dr Anne McLaren". Regenerative Medicine. 2 (5): 854. doi:10.2217/17460751.2.5.853. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  3. ↑ Anne McLaren at the Internet Movie Database.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Smith J. (2007) Prof. Dame Anne McLaren DBE, FRS (Fellow-Commoner 1991) Christ's College Magazine 232: 112–114
  5. 1 2 3 4 Franklin, Sarah (2007). "Obituary: Dame Dr Anne McLaren". Regenerative Medicine. 2 (5): 853. doi:10.2217/17460751.2.5.853. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Academic pair killed in car crash". BBC News. 8 July 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "The Anne McLaren Memorial Fund". Christ's College Cambridge. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  8. ↑ Letter: Donald Michie and Anne McLaren (Obituary, comment) The Guardian, 11 July 2007.
  9. ↑ Int. J. Dev. Biol. 2001, vol.45, pp. 477–82.

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by
Sir John Bertrand Gurdon		 Fullerian Professor of Physiology
1991–1999 		Succeeded by
Susan Greenfield
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