Kyoto Collection

The Kyoto Collection of Human Embryos was initiated by Dr. Hideo Nishimura in 1961 and now comprises over 44,000 human embryo specimens. The embryo cases were mainly derived from therapeutic abortions given to healthy women based on the Maternity Protection Law of Japan. The Kyoto Collection is among the well-known human embryo collections in the world, including the Carnegie Collection in the Carnegie Institution, the Hamilton-Boyd Collection in Cambridge University and the Blechschmidt Collection in the University of Goettingen. Important data on normal and abnormal human prenatal development have been obtained in the Kyoto Collection.