Natuerlich kuenstliche Befruchtung? (Kritische Studien zur Geschichtswissenschaft)

Since 1978, when the first successful in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure was conducted on a human being, the procedure has been applied commercially worldwide. There has so far been very little systematic research on the history of IVF. The few existing historical studies overemphasize the continuity of scientific research and convey a sense of straight-line progress, thereby neglecting social developments both outside and inside the sciences. The proposed study examines late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century history to reconstruct the social, cultural, and scientific factors that made it possible to conceptualize such a fundamental intervention in the reproductive process. The project will also explore how the development of IVF technology contributed to changes in the understanding of natural and artificial in the scientific practices and in the human reproduction itself.