H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, inaugurated, on Monday, the first global conference on the use of stem cells in fertility technology, which was organised by the Al Ain Fertility Centre in co-operation with Khalifa University, at the Rosewood Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

The inauguration ceremony of the First World Congress in Artificial Gametogenesis was attended by Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman of the Health Department, and many officials from hospitals, health departments and authorities in the UAE, as well as members of the Board of Directors of the Al Ain Fertility Centre and directors of medical services departments at the Ministry of Interior, the Armed Forces and the Abu Dhabi Police.

Sheikh Saif and the audience watched a documentary on the establishment of the Al Ain Fertility Centre, its treatment services provided to UAE citizens and residents, its technical and administrative staff, its experienced medical team, and its advanced medical equipment. The centre utilises the latest fertility technologies, in a nation that seeks to be among the best countries in the world.

The conference held its first session this morning, which was chaired by Dr. Braulio Peramo Moya, Consultant of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Fertility at the Al Ain Fertility Centre, and Juan Carlos Belmonte, Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, United States, who presented a research paper, titled, "Synthesis of Artificial Gametes in Humans - Is it Possible?"

The conference, which will end tomorrow, continued to present the research papers of other fertility experts, followed by a press conference to announce the recommendations by its participants.

Lt. General Al Nahyan also met with a group of students from Khalifa University and spoke with them while urging them to benefit from the conference and the scientific papers presented by experts in medicine, genetics and fertility, to serve their country.