Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many eggs from non-human species have been used in attempts to create cybrid embryos according to records held by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA); how the number of eggs used from each species compares with the number expected to be used; and what information about the expected outcomes of such research was provided to participants who donated human nuclei at each of the HFEA licensed centres.
Answer
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that it is not required in law to collect and hold information about the use of eggs, human or non-human, in research. The information it holds is, therefore, incomplete and limited. However, the information the HFEA does hold shows that the number of non-human eggs that have been used in attempts to create human admixed embryos is 222. The HFEA does not hold any further information about this matter.