Carl Djerassi, an Austrian-born US chemist who developed the birth control pill, has passed away at the age of 91.
Stanford University spokesman Dan Stober said that Djerassi died of complications of cancer in his San Francisco home, the Guardian reported.
He was most famous for leading a research team in Mexico City that in 1951 developed norethindrone, a synthetic molecule that became a key component of the first birth control pill.
"The pill," as it came to be known, radically transformed sexual practices and women's lives.
The famous chemist is now survived by a son, Dale Djerassi, a stepdaughter, Leah Middlebrook and a grandson, Alexander Djerassi.