Anne McLaren

Dame Anne Laura Dorinthea McLaren, DBE, FRS, FRCOG (26 April 1927 – 7 July 2007) was a leading figure in developmental biology. Her work helped lead to human in vitro fertilisation (IVF). She received many honours for her contributions to science, including being made an officer of the Royal Society. She was the daughter of Henry McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway and Christabel McNaughten.

Early life

McLaren was the daughter of Sir Henry McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway and a Liberal MP, and Christabel Mary Melville MacNaghten. She was born in London and lived there until the war, when her family moved to their estate at Bodnant in North Wales.

She read zoology at Lady Margaret Hall Oxford University, later gaining an MA. Researching mite infestation of Drosophila under J. B. S. Haldane, she continued postgraduate studies at University College London from 1949, first under Peter Medawar on the genetics of rabbits and then on neurotropic murine viruses under Kingsley Sanders. She obtained her D.Phil in 1952 and married fellow student Dr Donald Michie on 6 October 1952.