Editing Gregory G. Pincus (section)

==Research==
{{Moresources | section|date=March 2024}}
Pincus began studying hormonal biology and [[Steroid hormone|steroidal hormones]] early in his career. He was interested in the way that hormones affected mammalian reproductive systems. His first breakthrough came when he was able to produce [[in vitro fertilization]] in rabbits in 1934. In 1936, he published his experiments' results.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} His experiments involving [[parthenogenesis]] produced a rabbit that appeared on the cover of ''Look'' magazine{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} in 1937. To create the in-vitro rabbit offspring, Pincus removed the [[Egg cell|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's experiment became known{{By whom|date=June 2024}} as "Pincogenesis" because other scientists were unable to reproduce Pincus's results. After he was misquoted in an interview, it was believed that his experiment was the beginning of the use of in vitro fertilization by humans.<ref>Charles W. Carey Jr. "Pincus, Gregory Goodwin".</ref>

In 1944, Pincus co-founded the [[Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology]] in [[Shrewsbury, Massachusetts]]. He wanted to continue his research on the relationship between hormones and conditions 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{{Explain| date = June 2024}} in the [[Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research|Worcester Foundation of Experimental Biology]].<ref name="Carey">Carey</ref>

Pincus remained interested in mammalian reproduction systems and began to research [[infertility]].<ref name="Carey"/> In 1951, [[Margaret Sanger]] met Pincus at a dinner hosted by Abraham Stone, the director of the [[Clinical Research Bureau|Margaret Sanger Research Bureau]] and medical director and vice president of the [[Planned Parenthood Federation of America]] (PPFA), and procured a small grant from the PPFA for Pincus to begin hormonal contraceptive research. Pincus, along with [[Min Chueh Chang]], confirmed earlier research that [[progesterone]] would act as an inhibitor to [[ovulation]].

In 1952, Sanger told her friend [[Katharine McCormick]] 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 a 50-fold increase in funding from McCormick. Pincus was interested by Sanger's work with impoverished women with histories of many pregnancies. Sanger indirectly influenced him to create a successful contraceptive to prevent [[Unintended pregnancy|unwanted pregnancies]].<ref name="Carey"/>

In order to prove the safety of "the pill," [[Clinical trial|human trials]] had to be conducted. These were initiated among infertility patients of [[John Rock (American scientist)|John Rock]] in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], using progesterone in 1953 and then three different progestins in 1954. [[Puerto Rico]] was selected as a [[Contraceptive trials in Puerto Rico|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 [[Edris Rice-Wray]] and [[Celso-Ramón García]].{{cn|date=March 2024}}

Some of the women experienced side effects from the trial medication [[Mestranol/norethynodrel|(Enovid)]], and Rice-Wray reported to Pincus that Enovid "gives one hundred percent protection against pregnancy [but causes] too many side reactions to be acceptable". Pincus and Rock disagreed with Rice-Wray based on their experience with patients in Massachusetts and their research found that [[Placebo|placebos]] caused similar side effects. Subsequently, trials were expanded to [[Haiti]], [[Mexico]], and [[Los Angeles]]{{em dash}}despite high [[Attrition (research)|attrition]]{{em dash}}to accommodate rising interest. In May 1960, the [[Food and Drug Administration|American Food and Drug Administration]] extended Enovid's approved indications to include contraception.{{cn|date=March 2024}}