Invention of the Pregnancy Test
I. Introduction: A pregnancy test is something that has developed greatly over the years. Many beliefs and cultures had different ways of testing that we would find absurd today. Because of the lack of technology back then, people would use methods involving nature, or eating certain foods. But now there is a simple test that women can take to see if they are pregnant.
II. Discovery: As far back as ancient Greece and Egypt, people had different way of testing pregnancy. The ancient Egyptians would have a woman urinate on a bag of wheat, and if germination occurred, the woman was pregnant. Some other cultures based the test on foods a woman would eat, including honey. Strange tests like this carried on for a while, until the 1930’s when a scientist named Georgeanna Jones made a discovery. Jones discovered that the hCG (human chorionic gonodotropin) was produced by the placenta, not the original gland that other scientists had expected. This was important because hCG was an early marker of pregnancy in women. After numerous tests with animals, Jones came to the conclusion that hCG can be found in urine. This created a wide range of possibilities for pregnancy tests. Pregnancy tests used to be very expensive to have, until the 1970’s when the modern home pregnancy test was invented. Since the 1970’s there have been many modifications to the home pregnancy test, but the basics of the tests still remain the same. The down side of an at-home pregnancy test is that they are not always accurate. When tested by scientists, the tests have a 97.4 percent success rate. But when taken by everyday women, the tests only have a 75 percent success rate. The reason for this could be because of improper use, or checking before the stick has had time to calculate the results.
III. Biography of Inventor: Dr. Georgeanna Seegar Jones was one of the most well respected scientists of her field. Dr. Jones was a professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the Eastern Virginia Medical School. Along with her work on pregnancy tests, Dr. Jones also worked on furthering In Vitro Fertilization. Because of Georgeanna Jones’s work, the first IVF baby was born on 1978 in England. Since her death in March 2005, Dr. Jones has been seen as one of the best doctors of gynecology and obstetrics in the world.
Dr. Georgeanna Jones
IV. Impact on the World: I believe that modern pregnancy test have had a major impact on the world. Without these modern and easy tests, women would have a very difficult time figuring out if they’re pregnant. I also believe that Dr. Georgeanna Jones is the reason that all of this is possible. Without her, we wouldn’t have known about the hCG in urine, and people would still be using strange testing methods.
V. Journal Article Review: My journal article was very helpful in further explaining Dr. Jones’s work with the hCG. My article was also very descriptive about her life as a scietist and a professor.
· Damewood, M. (2005). Her Legacy Lives On. In Memoriam; Gerogeanna Jones, M.D, 1, 2
