Martin Hume Johnson

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Martin Johnson
Professor Martin Johnson FMedSci FRS.jpg
Martin Johnson in 2014, portrait via the Royal Society
Born
Martin Hume Johnson

(1944-12-19) 19 December 1944 (age 78) [1]
Alma mater University of Cambridge (MA, PhD)
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions University of Cambridge
Thesis An immunochemical analysis of factors affecting fertility  (1969)
Doctoral advisor Robert Edwards (physiologist)
Website pdn.cam.ac.uk/staff/johnson

Martin Hume Johnson (born 1944) FRS FMedSci FRSB FRCOG is emeritus professor of Reproductive Sciences in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience (PDN) at the University of Cambridge. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Education

Johnson was educated at Cheltenham Grammar School for Boys and Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in 1969 for immunochemical analysis of factors affecting fertility. [1] [4]

Research

Currently, Johnson's research investigates the history of the reproductive and developmental sciences and their historical relationship to the development of human In vitro fertilisation and other clinical technologies, and to their regulation legally and ethically. [3] Johnson collaborates with Kay Elder, at the Bourn Hall Clinic, Sarah Franklin [5] and Nick Hopwood [6] in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge.

Johnson has co-authored over 300 papers on reproductive and developmental science, history, ethics, law and medical education. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] Johnson is the co-editor of Essential Reproduction (now in its eighth edition), [15] Sexuality Repositioned: diversity and the law, [16] Death Rites and Rights [17] and Birth Rites and Rights. [18]

Johnson's research has been funded by the Wellcome Trust. [3]

Awards and honours

Johnson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2014. His nomination reads:

Johnson's seminal scientific contribution was the discovery and analysis of cellular polarisation during early mammalian development. He showed that this event initiated the first lineage segregation: one lineage formed the outer implanting layer of the placenta while the fetal body developed form the other. Recent techniques have permitted further understanding of this vital and decisive moment, and they all depend and build on his foundations. He also contributed to human reproductive sciences with his work leading to change in clinical practice. [2]

Johnson was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2012. His nomination reads:

Martin Johnson is Professor of Reproductive Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of early mammalian development and of human reproduction. Johnson's work on mouse development shed light on the earliest steps of embryogenesis. He also contributed to our understanding of the timing of zygotic gene activation, optimised protocols for cryopreservation of mouse oocytes, and used transgenic mice to study erythropoietin production with me, and the role of glial cells in brain regeneration after traumatic damage. Johnson has also contributed significantly to issues surrounding the regulation of reproductive medicine. [19]

Johnson is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FRCOG) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB).

Having been, with Richard Gardner, Bob Edwards' first graduate student (1966–1969), Prof Johnson opened the Nobel Symposium [20] on Bob's work in Stockholm, 2010.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intracytoplasmic sperm injection</span> In vitro fertilization procedure

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection is an in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure in which a single sperm cell is injected directly into the cytoplasm of an egg. This technique is used in order to prepare the gametes for the obtention of embryos that may be transferred to a maternal uterus. With this method, the acrosome reaction is skipped.

An oocyte, oöcyte, or ovocyte is a female gametocyte or germ cell involved in reproduction. In other words, it is an immature ovum, or egg cell. An oocyte is produced in a female fetus in the ovary during female gametogenesis. The female germ cells produce a primordial germ cell (PGC), which then undergoes mitosis, forming oogonia. During oogenesis, the oogonia become primary oocytes. An oocyte is a form of genetic material that can be collected for cryoconservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oogenesis</span> Egg cell production process

Oogenesis, ovogenesis, or oögenesis is the differentiation of the ovum into a cell competent to further develop when fertilized. It is developed from the primary oocyte by maturation. Oogenesis is initiated in the embryonic stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granulosa cell</span>

A granulosa cell or follicular cell is a somatic cell of the sex cord that is closely associated with the developing female gamete in the ovary of mammals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Edwards (physiologist)</span> English physiologist and pioneer in reproductive medicine (1925–2013)

Sir Robert Geoffrey Edwards was a British physiologist and pioneer in reproductive medicine, and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in particular. Along with obstetrician and gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe and nurse Jean Purdy, Edwards successfully pioneered conception through IVF, which led to the birth of Louise Brown on 25 July 1978. They founded the first IVF programme for infertile patients and trained other scientists in their techniques. Edwards was the founding editor-in-chief of Human Reproduction in 1986. In 2010, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the development of in vitro fertilization".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Evans</span> British biologist

Sir Martin John Evans is an English biologist who, with Matthew Kaufman, was the first to culture mice embryonic stem cells and cultivate them in a laboratory in 1981. He is also known, along with Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies, for his work in the development of the knockout mouse and the related technology of gene targeting, a method of using embryonic stem cells to create specific gene modifications in mice. In 2007, the three shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in recognition of their discovery and contribution to the efforts to develop new treatments for illnesses in humans.

Reproductive biology includes both sexual and asexual reproduction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oocyte cryopreservation</span> Procedure to preserve a womans eggs (oocytes)

Oocyte cryopreservation is a procedure to preserve a woman's eggs (oocytes). This technique has been used to enable women to postpone pregnancy to a later date – whether for medical or social reasons. Several studies have shown that most infertility problems are due to germ cell deterioration related to aging. The intention of the procedure is that the woman may choose to have the eggs thawed, fertilized, and transferred to the uterus as embryos to facilitate a pregnancy in the future. The procedure's success rate varies depending on the age of the woman, with odds being higher in younger, adult women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In vitro maturation</span> Artificial maturation of harvested immature egg cells

In vitro maturation (IVM) is the technique of letting the contents of ovarian follicles and the oocytes inside mature in vitro. It can be offered to women with infertility problems, combined with In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), offering women pregnancy without ovarian stimulation.

Transvaginal oocyte retrieval (TVOR), also referred to as oocyte retrieval (OCR), is a technique used in in vitro fertilization (IVF) in order to remove oocytes from the ovary of a woman, enabling fertilization outside the body. Transvaginal oocyte retrieval is more properly referred to as transvaginal ovum retrieval when the oocytes have matured into ova, as is normally the case in IVF. It can be also performed for egg donation, oocyte cryopreservation and other assisted reproduction technology such as ICSI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph L. Brinster</span> American geneticist

Ralph Lawrence Brinster is an American geneticist, National Medal of Science laureate, and Richard King Mellon Professor of Reproductive Physiology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gábor Vajta</span>

Gábor Vajta is a medical doctor, human pathologist and mammalian embryologist living in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Vajta was an Honorary Professor of the BGI College, Shenzhen, China, and Adjunct Professor of the Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. After an early career in human pathology he turned to embryology in 1989 and obtained a Doctor of Science degree in Domestic Animal Embryology at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1999. During the past 25 years he has co-developed several patents relating to embryology, most notably the method of Handmade Cloning (HMC), the Submarine Incubation System (SIS), the Open Pulled Straw (OPS) vitrification and the Well of the Well (WOW) system. Currently Professor Vajta is director of a consulting company providing services in human and domestic animal embryology all over the world, and founder and Chief Scientific Officer of VitaVitro Biotech Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China.

The history of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) goes back more than half a century. In 1959 the first birth in a nonhuman mammal resulting from IVF occurred, and in 1978 the world's first baby conceived by IVF was born. As medicine advanced, IVF was transformed from natural research to a stimulated clinical treatment. There have been many refinements in the IVF process, and today millions of births have occurred with the help of IVF all over the world.

Ruth Fowler Edwards, Lady Edwards was a British geneticist and the long-time wife and collaborator of Robert G. (Bob) Edwards, the "father" of in vitro fertilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudio Daniel Stern</span> Uruguayan biologist

Claudio Daniel Stern FRSB, FMedSci, FRS is a Uruguayan biologist currently working at University College London (UCL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Gow (scientist)</span> British microbiologist (born 1957)

Neil Andrew Robert Gow is a professor of Microbiology and deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Exeter. Previously he served at the University of Aberdeen for 38 years and retains an honorary Chair there.

Sir Richard Lavenham Gardner, FRSB, FRS is a British embryologist and geneticist. He is currently an Emeritus Professor at the University of York, and was previously a Royal Society Research Professor.

Oogonial stem cells (OSCs), also known as egg precursor cells or female germline cells, are diploid germline cells with stem cell characteristics: the ability to renew and differentiate into other cell types, different from their tissue of origin. Present in invertebrates and some lower vertebrate species, they have been extensively studied in Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster. OSCs allow the production of new female reproductive cells (oocytes) by the process of oogenesis during an organism's reproductive life.

Magdalena Żernicka-Goetz is a Polish-British developmental biologist. She is Professor of Mammalian Development and Stem Cell Biology in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience and Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. She also serves as Bren Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering at California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evelyn Telfer</span> British reproductive biologist

Evelyn Elizabeth Telfer is a reproductive biologist and professor at the University of Edinburgh. She leads a research team which has successfully grown immature human eggs to maturity in the lab, and discovered that human ovaries are capable of growing new eggs. In 2018 she was named one of Porter magazine's Incredible Women of 2018. In January 2019 she delivered the Anne McLaren Memorial Lecture at the Joint Fertility Societies Meeting in Birmingham: Fertility 2019. The Society of Reproduction and Fertility (SRF) presented her with their Distinguished Scientist award. Professor Telfer was presented with the Marshall Medal by SRF at Fertility 2023 in Belfast in recognition of her world leading contributions to the field of ovarian function and fertility preservation. The Marshall Medal is the Society’s premier award established in 1963 to commemorate the life and work of the eminent physiologist FHA Marshall.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "JOHNSON, Prof. Martin Hume" . Who's Who . Vol. 2014 (online Oxford University Press  ed.). A & C Black.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 1 2 3 "Professor Martin Johnson FMedSci FRS". London: The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Professor Martin Hume Johnson MA, PhD (Cantab), FRCOG, FMedSci, FRS". University of Cambridge. 2014. Archived from the original on 30 April 2015.
  4. Johnson, Martin Hume (1969). An immunochemical analysis of factors affecting fertility (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge.
  5. Franklin, S.; Johnson, M. H. (2013). "Are assisted reproduction health professionals still letting down their patients?". Reproductive BioMedicine Online. 27 (5): 451–452. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2013.09.001 . PMID   24055397.
  6. Johnson, M. H.; Franklin, S. B.; Cottingham, M.; Hopwood, N. (2010). "Why the Medical Research Council refused Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe support for research on human conception in 1971". Human Reproduction. 25 (9): 2157–74. doi:10.1093/humrep/deq155. PMC   2922998 . PMID   20657027.
  7. Martin Hume Johnson's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  8. Martin Hume Johnson publications indexed by Microsoft Academic
  9. Bush, T.; Puvanachandra, N.; Horner, C.; Polito, A.; Ostenfeld, T.; Svendsen, C.; Mucke, L.; Johnson, M.; Sofroniew, M. (1999). "Leukocyte Infiltration, Neuronal Degeneration, and Neurite Outgrowth after Ablation of Scar-Forming, Reactive Astrocytes in Adult Transgenic Mice". Neuron. 23 (2): 297–308. doi: 10.1016/S0896-6273(00)80781-3 . PMID   10399936.
  10. Pickering, S. J.; Braude, P. R.; Johnson, M. H.; Cant, A; Currie, J (1990). "Transient cooling to room temperature can cause irreversible disruption of the meiotic spindle in the human oocyte". Fertility and Sterility. 54 (1): 102–8. doi:10.1016/s0015-0282(16)53644-9. PMID   2358076.
  11. Bush, T. G.; Savidge, T. C.; Freeman, T. C.; Cox, H. J.; Campbell, E. A.; Mucke, L.; Johnson, M. H.; Sofroniew, M. V. (1998). "Fulminant Jejuno-Ileitis following Ablation of Enteric Glia in Adult Transgenic Mice". Cell. 93 (2): 189–201. doi: 10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81571-8 . PMID   9568712.
  12. Johnson, M. H.; Nasr-Esfahani, M. H. (1994). "Radical solutions and cultural problems: Could free oxygen radicals be responsible for the impaired development of preimplantation mammalian embryos in vitro?". BioEssays. 16 (1): 31–8. doi:10.1002/bies.950160105. PMID   8141805. S2CID   13218763.
  13. Flach, G; Johnson, M. H.; Braude, P. R.; Taylor, R. A.; Bolton, V. N. (1982). "The transition from maternal to embryonic control in the 2-cell mouse embryo". The EMBO Journal. 1 (6): 681–6. doi:10.1002/j.1460-2075.1982.tb01230.x. PMC   553268 . PMID   7188357.
  14. Nasr-Esfahani, M. H.; Aitken, J. R.; Johnson, M. H. (1990). "Hydrogen peroxide levels in mouse oocytes and early cleavage stage embryos developed in vitro or in vivo". Development. 109 (2): 501–7. doi:10.1242/dev.109.2.501. PMID   2401209.
  15. Johnson, M. H. (2018). Essential reproduction. Chichester, West Sussex Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN   978-1444335750.
  16. Brooks-Gordon, Belinda (2004). Sexuality Repositioned: Diversity and the Law. Oxford Portland, Or: Hart. ISBN   1841134899.
  17. Brooks-Gordon, Belinda (2007). Death Rites and Rights. Oxford Portland, Or: Hart. ISBN   978-1841137322.
  18. Ebtehaj, Fatemeh (2011). Birth rites and rights. Oxford Portland, Or: Hart Pub. ISBN   978-1849461887.
  19. "Professor Martin Johnson FRS FMedSci". London: Academy of Medical Sciences. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  20. "Robert G. Edwards – Nobel Lecture: Robert Edwards: Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine". nobelprize.org. Retrieved 11 October 2016.