Goran Hansson Secretary of the Nobel Committee on Physiology or Medicine made the announcement in Stockholm.

"The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute has today decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2010 to Robert Edwards for the development of in vitro fertilization."

The jury said that Edwards is awarded for the development of human in vitro fertilization or IVF therapy.

His achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a medical condition afflicting a large proportion of humanity including more than 10 percent of all couples worldwide.

Edwards had the vision that IVF could be useful as a treatment for infertility in the 1950s.

He worked systematically to realize his goal, discovered important principles for human fertilization, and succeeded in accomplishing fertilization of human egg cells in test tubes.

His efforts came to a success in 1978 when the world's first test tube baby was born.

About four million individuals in the world have so far been born following IVF. Many of them are now adults and some have already become parents.

With Edwards leading the process from the fundamental discoveries to the current successful IVF therapy, a new field of medicine has emerged.

His contributions represent a milestone in the development of modern medicine, the Nobel Committee commented.