Today nearly four million people have been born thanks to in vitro fertilization, which occurs when sperm is injected into an egg cell outside the body and the resulting embryo is implanted back into the womb. (Watch a video of how in vitro fertilization works.)

Edwards first envisioned IVF during the 1950s and went on to develop and hone the technique in the 1960s and '70s.

He achieved his first success on July 25, 1978, when Louise Brown, the world's first "test-tube baby" was born in the United Kingdom.

"This is a wonderful achievement and a great testimony to Edwards's pioneering work in reproductive science," said Richard Kennedy, a fertility