The examination of the human fallopian tubes was, until recently, restricted to observations on gross anatomical disposition and tubal patency. These studies, for decades, were the domain of doctors and physiologists whose primary interest was population control and family planning, funded largely by organisations and agencies seek- ing alternatives to steroidal contraceptives. For a "worrying" but short period after the birth of Louise Brown in 1978 as the conse- quence of successful in-vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer, the fallopian tube was considered to be "dispensable" given that...