Sarah Norcross, director of the Progress Educational Trust (PET), said:
It is extremely challenging to develop human egg cells in the laboratory, but recent research in this area shows promise. Eggs grown in vitro could help a number of patient groups -perhaps most importantly, young girls with a wide variety of cancers, who may not be able to make use of existing fertility preservation methods. The safety and efficacy of such eggs will have to be rigorously tested before they can be used to try to achieve a pregnancy. If such tests are satisfied, and lab-grown eggs are used successfully in treatment, then they might eventually be used more widely - to help women who wish to avoid the avoid the hormonal stimulation part of an IVF cycle, as well as for women with Turner syndrome and transgender patients.
