Anne McLaren

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Anne Laura Dorinthea McLaren (26 April 1927 – 7 July 2007) was a British scientist who helped start modern developmental biology and played a key role in the development of IVF.

She was born in London and studied at Oxford University and University College London, where she earned a PhD in 1952. In 1958, with John D. Biggers, she published a landmark study showing that mouse embryos could be grown in the lab and then brought to birth. This work laid the groundwork for human IVF.

McLaren worked at the Institute of Animal Genetics in Edinburgh, researching fertility and embryo development. She later became Director of the MRC Mammalian Development Unit in London, a position she held for 18 years. She wrote about germ cells and chimeras, and her 1976 book Mammalian Chimeras became highly influential. She also investigated sex determination and embryo development.

Beyond the lab, she helped shape policy and ethics in science. She advised on IVF and embryology, contributed to the Warnock Report, and served on the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. She was a champion for women in science, helping to start groups like the Association for Women in Science and Engineering (AWiSE).

McLaren received many honors. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1975 and later held leadership roles there. She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) in 1993, and she won the Royal Medal in 1990 and the Japan Prize in 2002.

In 2007, Anne McLaren and her husband, Donald Michie, died in a car accident near Cambridge. Her legacy lives on in her scientific contributions, her advocacy for women in science, and the projects she helped found, such as the Frozen Ark and regenerative medicine work in Cambridge. Her papers are kept at the British Library.