Martin Johnson MA, PhD, FRCOG, FSB
Professor of Reproductive Sciences
Tel: +44 (0)1223 333777, Fax: +44 (0)1223 333786 Email: mhj21@cam.ac.uk
My current research interests centre on the history of mammalian developmental biology and reproduction and on the influences of both these scientific disciplines on legislation, regulation, and ethico-social attitudes.
I am one of the three editors of Reproductive BioMedicine Online (Elsevier). I am also co-editing the proceedings of the seventh seminar of the Cambridge Socio-legal Group called Birth Rites and Rights to be published by Hart Publishing in September 2011. Finally, I am preparing the 7th Edition of Essential Reproduction (Blackwell Science) due out in 2012.
Major collaborators
Professor Sarah Franklin (S.Franklin@lse.ac.uk) London School of Economics
Dr Nick Hopwood (ndh12@cam.ac.uk), History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge)
Group members
Elisabeth Ritter (PhD Student)
Zac Marcus (M Phil student)
Salim Al-Gailani (research assistant)
Funding
Wellcome Trust Strategic Grant in History of Medicine “From Generation to Reproduction” jointly with Dr Nick Hopwood et al. (2009-2014)
Selected recent publications
2006
H. Dolatshad, E.A. Campbell, L. O’Hara, E.S. Maywood, M.H. Hastings and M.H. Johnson: Developmental and reproductive performance in circadian mutant mice. Human Reproduction 21, 68-79.
L. Selwood and M.H. Johnson: Trophoblast and hypoblast in the monotreme, marsupial and eutherian mammal: evolution and origins. BioEssays 28, 128-145.
M.H. Johnson: Regulating the Science and Therapeutic Application of Human Embryo Research: Managing the Tension Between Biomedical Creativity and Public Concern. Chap. 10 in: Freedom and Responsibility in Reproductive Choice. Editors A.L. Pedain and J.R. Spencer. Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland, pp.91-106.
E.A. Campbell, L. O’Hara, R.D. Catalano, A.M. Sharkey, T.C. Freeman and M.H. Johnson: Temporal expression profiling of the uterine luminal epithelium of the pseudo-pregnant mouse suggests receptivity to the fertilised egg is associated with complex transcriptional changes. Human Reproduction 21, 2495-2513.
M.H. Johnson: Escaping the tyranny of the embryo? A new approach to ART regulation based on UK and Australian experiences. Human Reproduction 21, 2756-2765.
M.H. Johnson: Defining the human embryo: A way with words? BioNews (July, 2006) 366 at http://www.bionews.org.uk/commentary.lasso?storyid=3097
2007
K Petersen and M.H. Johnson: SmARTest regulation? Comparing the regulatory structures for ARTs in the UK and Australia. Reproductive BioMedicine 15, 236-244.
M. Richards and M.H. Johnson: Introduction: Death writes. In: Death Rites and Rights. Editors B. Brooks-Gordon, F. Ebtehaj, J Herring, M.H. Johnson and M Richards. Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland, pp.1-10.
2008
M.H. Johnson and K. Petersen: Public Interest or Public Meddling? Towards an objective framework for the regulation of Assisted Reproductive Technologies. Human Reproduction 23, 716-728.
M.H. Johnson: Human ES cells and a blastocyst from one Embryo: exciting science but conflicting ethics? Cell Stem Cell 2, 103-104.
A. Jedrusik, D.-E. Parfitt, G. Guo, M. Skagami, J.B. Grabarek, M.H. Johnson, P. Robson and M. Zerncika-Goetz: Role of Cdx2 and cell polarity in cell allocation and specification of trophectorderm and inner cell mass in the mouse embryo. Genes and Development 22, 2692-2706.
M.H. Johnson: Advising Parliament. Pieces 12, 11.
C.E.M. Aiken, T. Cindrova-Davies and M.H. Johnson: Temporal and tissue variations in mitochondrial DNA levels from fertilisation to birth in the mouse are associated with oxidative stress. Reproductive BioMedicine, 17, 806-813.
2009
M.H. Johnson and K, Petersen: Instruments for ART regulation: what are the most appropriate mechanisms for achieving smart regulation? In: Regulating Autonomy: Sex, Reproduction and Fertility. Edited by F Ebtehaj, E Jackson, M Richards & S Day Sclater, Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland, in press.
H. Dolatshad, F.C. Davies and M.H. Johnson: Circadian clock genes in reproductive tissues and the developing conceptus. Reprod. Fert. Devel. 21, 1-9.
M.H. Johnson, S Franklin and N Hopwood: Mammalian embryology and assisted conception in postwar Britain. Wellcome History 32, 12.
M.H. Johnson: From mouse egg to mouse embryo: Polarities, axes and tissues. Annual Reviews in Cell and Developmental Biology 25, 483-512.
2010
M.H. Johnson, S.B. Franklin, M. Cottingham and N. Hopwood: Why the Medical Research Council refused Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe support for research on human conception in 1971. Human Reproduction 25, 2157-74. Epub 2010 Jul 24
M.H. Johnson, S.B. Franklin, M. and N. Hopwood: Why the MRC did not fund the first test-tube baby. BioNews http://www.bionews.org.uk/page_67380.asp.
2011
A.A Theodosiou and M.H. Johnson: The politics of human embryo research and the motivation to achieve PGD. RBM Online 22, 457– 471.
R.L. Gardner and M.H. Johnson: Bob Edwards and the first decade of Reproductive BioMedicine Online. RBM Online, 22, 103-121.
M.H. Johnson: Robert Edwards - the trail that led to the Nobel Prize. The Galton Institute News Letter 75, 1-3.
In press
S. Franklin and M.H. Johnson: In Vitro Fertilisation and Embryo Transfer. In: The Great Discoveries in Medicine, Ed. William and Helen Bynum, London: Thames & Hudson.
M.H. Johnson and A.A. Theodosiou: PGD and the making of the genetic embryo as a political tool. In: (Ed. McLean, S.) Regulating PGD: A Comparative and Theoretical Analysis. Routledge, London, UK.
M.H. Johnson: The biology of donation. In: Reproductive Donation: Bioethics, Policy and Practice. Editors: John Appleby, Guido Pennings and Martin Richards, CUP.
M.H. Johnson: Robert Edwards: the path to IVF. RBM Online, in press.
M.H. Johnson: Robert Edwards: Nobel Laureate in Physiology and Medicine. In: Les Prix Nobel 2010 (edited K Grandin). The Nobel Foundation, Stockholm.