Several hundred thousand IVF children have been born worldwide since the birth of Louise Brown in 1978. Technology in assisted human reproduction is striding ahead, from the first births using frozen embryos in the early 1980s to sex-selection of embryos and the microinjection of spermatozoa for the treatment of male sterility at the beginning of the 1990s. However, research on human gametes and embryos, for various political and ethical reasons, has not followed suit. Although the clinical embryologist must be trained in standard cell culture technology, we believe it is equally important to be aware of the basic biology of these highly specialized cells, the gametes. Most of our information on gametes and early embryos has come from studies on invertebrates, less so from mammals, and therefore we have presented a general overview of gamete biology, followed by more specific descriptions of mammalian and, where possible, human gamete biology.

The first section of this book explores how gametes are produced, how they interact and the first steps of embryo development. The middle section is dedicated to the technologies used in animal ART and advanced laboratory technologies, whilst the latter section of the book describes a compilation of protocols used at Bourn Hall Clinic, Cambridge. The protocols were originally established at Bourn Hall in 1980 by Professor R.G. Edwards and Jean Purdy, following their years of research in the Cambridge University Department of Physiology and Kershaws hospital in Oldham.