Lord Robert Winston Talk

On 7th March, a group of Yr13 Biologists had the privilege of hearing a talk by Lord Robert Winston held at the Harvey Grammar School for Boys in Folkestone.

Lord Robert Winston, a distinguished guest speaker, shared his remarkable journey from a background in theatre to a successful career in medicine, particularly focusing on fertility treatments. His interest in the field was sparked during a school trip to an Edinburgh Marine Biology Centre, where he was captivated by their research on sea urchins and visualising in vitro fertilisation under the microscope.

His passion for his field was palpable as he spoke highly of his colleagues from various fields and emphasised the importance of teamwork in the field of medicine and fertility treatments. One fascinating point he shared was about female egg development: a few weeks after conception, females have around 6-7 million eggs. By birth, this number drops to 1 million, and by the age of 17-18, it further decreases to 300,000.

During his speech, he also highlighted the significance of mass spectrometry in advancing our understanding of various biological processes involved in embryo development. Additionally, thought-provoking discussions on ethics in biology added depth to his presentation.

Thank you to all those involved in making the trip a success and to our students for expertly representing our school during Lord Robert Winston's insightful and engaging speech. As always, your exemplary behavior and attentiveness were truly commendable.

Mrs Bennett