Alan Sterling Parkes


Sir Alan Sterling Parkes FRS CBE was an English reproductive biologist credited with Christopher Polge and Audrey Smith for the discovery that spermatozoa can be protected against induced damage induced by freezing and low-temperature storage using glycerol. This work enabled the development of the field of cryobiology.
Additionally, he published on the reproductive effects of X-rays on mice, hormonal control of secondary sexual characteristics in birds, and aided Hilda Bruce in research that established the Bruce effect.
In 1962, Parkes was awarded the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh.