The contribution of the donated human embryos suitable for production of embryonic stem cells to increase the quality of life: selection and preparation of embryos in Czech Republic

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are used in cell therapy mainly in targeted therapy for not yet curable diseases such as diabetes mellitus, spinal cord injury or Parkinson's disease. The aim of this study is the derivation of clinical-grade hESCs, usable in drug development, non-native medicine and cell therapy. Embryos were thawed, cultivated to the blastocyst stage if necessary, and subsequently assisted hatching was performed. From 1/2018 to 7/2020, 138 selected clients were asked for consent with the donation, of whom 52 did not respond, 19 terminated and 29 extended embryo storage. Only 38 clients (27.5%) agreed to donate their embryos for the derivation of hESCs. At the same time, personal communication with clients took place and another 17 embryo donors were obtained. A total of 160 embryos from 55 donors aged 26–42 years were collected. The embryos were frozen at blastocyst (33.1%) or morula (46.3%) stage. A total of 160 donated embryos were obtained. After preparation of 64 embryos, the embryoblast was isolated and subsequently cultured. Finally, 7 hESC lines were obtained, 4 research-grade lines and 3 clinical-grade lines, the first created in the Czech Republic.