Patients attending Bourn Hall Clinic for assisted conception treatment have the option of donating to research human oocytes unsuitable for use in treatment, or cryopreserved embryos that are surplus to their requirements. We have ongoing collaborations with academic research units who are able to maximise the research potential of this valuable and precious material, in projects that include meiosis in human oocytes and understanding the biology of human preimplantation embryos, gametes and stem cells. Detailed patient information sheets and consent forms can be downloaded at https://www.bournhall.co.uk/our-family/research-publications/current-collaborative-projects/#menuscroll
Research into meiosis in human oocytes is undertaken in a satellite laboratory at Bourn Hall set up and run by Dr Melina Schuh’s group, Department of Meiosis, Max Planck Institute, Göttingen, Germany.
Cryopreserved embryos donated for research are sent in batches to research laboratories that include the Francis Crick Institute, London, University of Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge Centre for Trophoblast Research, Wellcome Trust Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, Cambridge and the Zernicka-Goetz Lab in the Cambridge University Dept of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience .
A list of publications can be seen at: https://www.bournhall.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Research-Publications-JournalPublications-Oct-2018.pdf
