Research on human eggs and embryos was made possible by the development of methods for egg retrieval from the ovary and fertilisation in vitro in the mid to late 70’s. In the UK, the importance of human embryo research was recognised by the Warnock Report (1984) and allowed within a regulatory framework by the original Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (1990), which established the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and, more recently, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (as amended) (2008). The purposes for which research on human embryos is allowed in the UK and the progress made in these areas over the last 25 years, since the legislation was introduced, will be briefly reviewed.

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