As part of the Canterbury Festival the self-styled “Dr D’n’A” (in reality Professors Darren Griffin and Alan Thornhill of Biosciences) took to the stage.

The two pioneers in the field of IVF and genetics led an interactive whistle-stop tour of the early stages of human development, and discussed some recent developments in reproductive technologies. The show involved a “mocked up” IVF lab – some “real” patients, balloons and a very large syringe!

The show was based on the fact that 1 in 50 people in the UK don’t have children the ‘normal’ way. The advent of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) in 1978 led to hundreds of thousands of births worldwide – but also a deeper understanding of the appearance, process and genetics of the ball of cells that eventually develops into the human body. The presentation was supported by the London Women’s Clinic and explored some of the innovations, stories and perceptions that IVF has given the world.