غريغوري بنكس .. كتاب المائة الأوائل

Gregory Binks

Gregory Pincus

1903 - 1967

Gregory Banks is an American biologist who played a role in developing the contraceptive pill for women. Although he is almost unknown, his influence exceeds many famous people in the world.

Contraceptive pills are of two importance:

First: In a world concerned with the dangers of population explosion, the importance of these pills as a factor in birth control is very clear.

Second: These pills have an effect on changing the amount of sex. It is now recognized that there has been a revolution in sexual attitudes in America during the past fifteen years.

There is no doubt that there are economic, political and social reasons that caused this revolution, but the single and biggest factor was the emergence of these grains. In the past, the fear of pregnancy was the main factor in preventing women there from sexual intercourse before marriage and even during marriage. Suddenly, women were offered the opportunity to have sex without fear of pregnancy, and changing these conditions has led to a change in both attitudes and behavior.

Many have contributed to the development of the contraceptive pill. I have researched this issue for a while. time. The difficulty was finding drugs that help in this matter.

But in 1937, two scientists noticed that progesterone (one of the female sex hormones), if injected into laboratory animals, would prevent ovulation in the female of those animals. But that discovery did not arouse the interest of scientists interested in birth control.

The development of the contraceptive pill did not begin until after 1950, when the American biologist Gregory Banks began working on this subject. Ms. Margaret Sanger, the famous family planning researcher, persuaded him to proceed with this project. Scientists before Benks had reached the use of progesterone as a pill taken from the mouth and not as an injection under the skin, as it was used with laboratory animals. One of the scientists before him had found two difficulties: the first: that obstruction of ovulation only lasts 85% of the time and not all of the time. Second: There was a need to give large doses to affect the obstruction of ovulation, even with the presence of a state of obstruction by only 85%, but Benks was convinced that he was on the right path and was never ready to give in to failure, and he realized that there must be a substance other than progesterone that has the same effect But less than progesterone in effect. He formed a group of researchers who started searching with his help, and finally they found two types of hormones that complement each other, then they started doing experiments in April 1956 in the outskirts of Puerto Rico under the direction of Dr. Clearly successful. However, the experiments continued for another three years before the authorities agreed to trade them in the markets in 1960.

And from what we mentioned, it is clear that Gregory Benks did not reveal this invention alone, but there were many scientists and chemists who paved the way for him, as well as those who worked in the research group with him.

Gregory Binks was born in 1903 in Wood Pine, New Jersey. His parents were Russian Jews, and he graduated and obtained a doctorate from Harvard University in 1927, and then began research in several institutions and wrote about 250 scientific papers, in addition to his book (Overcoming Fertility).

During his life, he won several scientific awards, but he did not win the Nobel Prize. Upon his death in 1967, no one noticed his death, especially scientists, but that is because he is considered the main engineer of one of the prominent discoveries in the history of the human race.