Severino Antinori is an
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
gynecologist and
embryologistEmbryology is a science which is about the development of an embryo from the fertilization of the ovum to the fetus stage...
. He has publicly taken controversial positions over
in vitro fertilisation (IVF)In vitro fertilisation is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed...
and
human cloningHuman cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...
.
He began his career interested in
veterinary biologyA veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
. He studied at the
University of Rome La SapienzaThe Sapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza – Università di Roma, formerly known as Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy...
, graduating in 1972 with a degree in
medicineMedicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. Initially he worked in
gastroenterologyGastroenterology is the branch of medicine whereby the digestive system and its disorders are studied. The name is a combination of three Ancient Greek words gaster , enteron , and logos...
, but following a lecture by
Patrick SteptoePatrick Christopher Steptoe FRS was a British obstetrician and gynaecologist and a pioneer of fertility treatment. Steptoe was responsible with biologist and physiologist Robert Edwards for developing in vitro fertilization...
he re-trained in
obstetricsObstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
and gynecology, moving into reproductive and
infertilityInfertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a person to contribute to conception. Infertility may also refer to the state of a woman who is unable to carry a pregnancy to full term...
work from 1978. He set up his own
clinicA clinic is a health care facility that is primarily devoted to the care of outpatients...
in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1982. In 1986, he pioneered the use of the ICSI (
intracytoplasmic sperm injectionIntracytoplasmic sperm injection is an in vitro fertilization procedure in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg.-Indications:...
) process in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. From 1989 he extended IVF to women who had passed the
menopauseMenopause is a term used to describe the permanent cessation of the primary functions of the human ovaries: the ripening and release of ova and the release of hormones that cause both the creation of the uterine lining and the subsequent shedding of the uterine lining...
.
In 1994, he assisted Rosana Della Cortes, aged 63, in becoming
pregnantPregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
. She became one of the oldest women in history to give
birthChildbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
.
In May 2006, it was announced that 62 year old
East SussexEast Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
child psychiatristPsychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
,
Patricia RashbrookDr Patricia Rashbrook, also known as Patti Farrant, is the oldest woman to give birth in the United Kingdom. It was announced she was pregnant, following IVF treatment, on the May 4, 2006, and then gave birth to a son on July 8 at the age of 62 by caesarean section at Sussex County Hospital in...
, was seven months pregnant after being treated by Antinori, who said that 62 or 63 was the upper limit for IVF in healthy women. He commented that he would only consider couples with at least 20 years' life expectancy left for fertility treatment. Josephine Quintavalle, from Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE), accused Rashbrook of selfishness and said it would be extremely difficult for a child to have a mother who is as old as a grandmother.
In May 2009, after it was announced a 66 year old woman was pregnant he criticised her decision saying that he felt she was too old and may not live long enough to raise her child.
Human cloning
Antinori publicised his interest in
human cloningHuman cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...
from 1998; working with
Panayiotis ZavosPanayiotis Michael Zavos is a Greek Cypriot biologist from Cyprus. He is also an American citizen who currently lives in Lexington, Kentucky.-Biography:...
he argued in favour of cloning as an opportunity for infertile couples, who cannot use other methods. Genetic material from the father would be injected into an egg, which would then be implanted into the woman's womb to grow. The resulting child would, in theory, have exactly the same physical characteristics as the father.
Antinori told an Italian newspaper that more than 1,500 couples had volunteered as candidates for his research programme. In November 2002, Antinori announced that he had successfully used cloning to induce pregnancy in three women, with the birth of the first child expected in January 2003. He refused to give the identities of the women or details of where they lived, and mainstream scientists and doctors expressed scepticism about his claims.
External links