Gregory Goodwin Pincus (April 9, 1903 – August 22, 1967) was an American
biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
and researcher who co-invented the
combined oral contraceptive pill
The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be taken orally by women. The pill contains two important hormones: progest ...
.
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Early life
Gregory Goodwin Pincus was born in Woodbine, New Jersey
Woodbine is a borough in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 2,128, a drop of 344 from the 2010 Census count ...
to Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
parents, who were immigrants from the Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
. His father was Joseph Pincus, a teacher and the editor of a farm journal, and his mother was Elizabeth (née Lipman), whose family had come from the region that is now Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
. He credited two uncles, both agricultural scientists, for his interest in research. His IQ was said to be 210 and his family considered him a genius.
Pincus attended Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
and received a bachelor's degree in biology in 1924. He attended Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, where he was an instructor in zoology while also working toward his master's and doctorate degrees. From 1927 to 1930 he moved from Harvard to Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in England to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology with Richard Goldschmidt
Richard Benedict Goldschmidt (April 12, 1878 – April 24, 1958) was a German-born American geneticist. He is considered the first to attempt to integrate genetics, development, and evolution. He pioneered understanding of reaction norms, gen ...
in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
where he performed research. He became an instructor in general physiology at Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in 1930 and was promoted in 1931 to an assistant professor.
Research
Dr. Pincus began studying hormonal biology and steroidal hormones early in his career. He was interested in the way that hormones affected mammals' reproductive systems. His first breakthrough came early, when he was able to produce in vitro fertilization
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...
in rabbits in 1934. In 1936, he published his discoveries after his experiments. His experiments involving parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek grc, παρθένος, translit=parthénos, lit=virgin, label=none + grc, γένεσις, translit=génesis, lit=creation, label=none) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development ...
produced a rabbit that appeared on the cover of ''Look'' magazine
in 1937. To create the in vitro rabbit baby, Pincus removed the ovum from the mother rabbit and placed it in a solution mixture of saline and estrone. Afterwards, he placed the "fertilized" ovum back into the rabbit. Pincus' experiment became known as "Pincogenesis" because other scientists were unable to attain the same results when conducting the experiment. After he was misquoted in an interview, it was believed that his experiment was the beginning of the use of in vitro for humans.
In 1944, Dr. Pincus co-founded the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology The Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research (WFBR) was a non-profit biomedical research institute based in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, United States.
History
The foundation was established as an independent research center under the name Worces ...
in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
Shrewsbury (/ˈʃruzberi/ ''SHROOZ-bury'') is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Shrewsbury, unlike the surrounding towns of Grafton, Millbury, Westborough, Northborough, Boylston, and West Boylston did not become a ...
. He wanted to continue his research of the relationship between hormones and diseases such as, but not limited to, cancer, heart disease, and schizophrenia. By the end of the 1960s, more than 300 international researchers came to participate in the Worcester Foundation of Experimental Biology.[Carey]
Pincus never lost interest in mammals' reproduction systems. He began to research infertility. In 1951, Margaret Sanger
Margaret Higgins Sanger (born Margaret Louise Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966), also known as Margaret Sanger Slee, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth control ...
met Pincus at a dinner hosted by Abraham Stone, director of the Margaret Sanger Research Bureau and medical director and vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reven ...
(PPFA), and procured a small grant from PPFA for Pincus to begin hormonal contraceptive research. Pincus, along with Min Chueh Chang
Min Chueh Chang (, October 10, 1908 – June 5, 1991), often credited as M.C. Chang, was a Chinese-American reproductive biologist. His specific area of study was the fertilisation process in mammalian reproduction. Though his career produced ...
, confirmed earlier research that progesterone
Progesterone (P4) is an endogenous steroid and progestogen sex hormone involved in the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and embryogenesis of humans and other species. It belongs to a group of steroid hormones called the progestogens and is the m ...
would act as an inhibitor to ovulation.
In 1952, Sanger told her friend Katharine McCormick
Katharine Dexter McCormick (August 27, 1875 – December 28, 1967) was a U.S. suffragist, philanthropist and, after her husband's death, heir to a substantial part of the McCormick family fortune. She funded most of the research necessary to d ...
about Pincus and Chang's research. Frustrated by PPFA's meager interest and support, McCormick and Sanger met with Pincus in 1953 to dramatically expand the scope of the research with 50-fold increase in funding from McCormick. Pincus was fascinated by Sanger because she revealed what life was like for women who were living in poverty who endured many pregnancies. Sanger indirectly influenced him to create a successful contraceptive to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
In order to prove the safety of "the pill," human trials had to be conducted. These were initiated on infertility patients of Dr. John Rock in Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...
using progesterone in 1953 and then three different progestins in 1954. Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
was selected as a trial site in 1955, in part because there was an existing network of 67 birth control clinics serving low-income women on the island. Trials began there in 1956 and were supervised by Dr. Edris Rice-Wray
Edris Roushan Rice-Wray (January 21, 1904 in Newark, New Jersey, Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States – February 19, 1990 in San Andres Cholula, Puebla, Mexico), was a pioneer in medical research who helped to prove the worth of ...
and Celso-Ramón García.
Some of the women experienced side effects from "the pill" (Enovid) and Edris Rice-Wray wrote Pincus and reported that Enovid ''"gives one hundred percent protection against pregnancy ut causestoo many side reactions to be acceptable"''. Pincus and Rock disagreed based on their experience with patients in Massachusetts and conducted research showing that placebos caused similar side effects. The trials went on and were expanded to Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
, Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
despite high attrition rates, due to the large number of women eager to try this form of contraception.
In May 1960, the FDA extended Enovid's approved indications to include contraception.
Personal life
Pincus married Elizabeth Notkin (1900–1988) in 1924 and they had three children together.
Awards
Pincus was the recipient of numerous awards. Some of these awards include the Oliver Bird Prize in 1960, the Julius A. Koch Award in 1962, the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh
The Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh is awarded by the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine to a person who has made any highly important and valuable addition to Practical Therapeutics in the previous five ye ...
in 1966, and the American Medical Association's Scientific Achievement Award in 1967. Pincus was acknowledged for his creation of the Laurentian Hormone Conference, which was a conference of endocrinologists. Pincus served as the chairman of the conference and its purpose was to discuss the hormones of the endocrine system. The conference was attended by endocrinologists from all over the world.
Death
He died in 1967 of myeloid metaplasia, a rare blood disease, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was 64 years old and lived in Northborough, Massachusetts
Northborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The official spelling of the town's name is "Northborough," but the alternative spelling "Northboro" is also used. The population was 15,741 at the 2020 census.
History ...
. His funeral was held August 25, 1967 at Temple Emanuel in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
.["Dr. Pincus, Developer of Birth Control Pill, Dead; Funeral Services to Be Held Friday." Jewish Telegraphic Agency 24 Aug 1967.]
Lasting impact
Pincus' birth control pill
The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be taken orally by women. The pill contains two important hormones: progest ...
changed family life in a significant way, because it allowed women to choose—for the first time—when they would have children and plan accordingly around this decision in a deliberate manner. The birth control pill helped pave the way for the women's liberation
The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...
and concomitant Sexual Revolution
The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the United States and the developed world from the 1 ...
movements.
See also
* Birth control movement in the United States
The birth control movement in the United States was a social reform campaign beginning in 1914 that aimed to increase the availability of contraception in the U.S. through education and legalization. The movement began in 1914 when a group of po ...
References
Further reading
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Weintraub, B. Pincus, Djerassi and Oral Contraceptives. Chemistry in Israel, Bulletin of the Israel Chemical Society. August 2005.
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pincus, Gregory Goodwin
1903 births
1967 deaths
People from Woodbine, New Jersey
American people of Latvian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Jewish American scientists
American biochemists
Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni
Harvard University alumni
Harvard University faculty
Clark University faculty
People from Northborough, Massachusetts
20th-century American Jews