British physiologist Robert Edwards has won the 2010 Nobel Prize in medicine for the development of in vitro fertilization, a technique that has helped millions of infertile couples to have children.

The Nobel Committee at the Swedish Karolinska Institute, which awards the prize, in its announcement today said that Edwards' contributions "represent a milestone in the development of modern medicine."

Edwards, 85, started working on in vitro fertilization, a procedure in which eggs are fertilized outside the body and implanted in the womb, in the 1950s. He developed the technique together with Patrick Steptoe, who died in 1988.

The first baby born through the groundbreaking procedure was born in 1978 in Britain.

The award for medicine is the first of the annual Nobel prizes to be announced, followed by the prizes for physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday, literature on Thursday, the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, and economics on Monday, October 11.

This year's winners will receive about $1.5 million, a diploma, and a gold medal.

The Nobel Prizes were first handed out in 1901.

诺贝尔奖评审委员会4日宣布，被誉为“世界试管婴儿之父”的英国科学家爱德华兹以“对试管授精领域的贡献”赢得2010年诺贝尔生理学或医学奖。他曾完成了世界上第一例试管受精手术，并让世界上第一个“试管婴儿”路易丝降临到人世。

位于瑞典首都斯德哥尔摩卡罗琳医学院的诺贝尔大会称，“他的贡献代表了现代医学发展的里程碑。”

“他的成就使治疗不育症成为可能，不育症折磨着包括全世界10%以上夫妇在内的庞大人群。”