(Vox) – More than half a century ago, men of science and men of faith gathered together to unlock the mysteries of female fertility. The answer: urine from the brides of Christ. And lo, those nuns gaveth.

All that urine, collected and processed by Serono, eventually helped create the drug Pergonal, which aided in the first successful IVF pregnancy in the United States, as well as countless pregnancies, in vitro and otherwise, worldwide. And in certain ways still does. (Read More)