Sir Richard Lavenham Gardner, FRSB, FRS (born 10 June 1943) is a British embryologist and geneticist.
Since 1982, he has been Chair of the Royal Society Working Group on human embryo research, stem cells and cloning.
He was the first to apply clonal analysis to study cell fate and potency in mammals,[4] and used this strategy to provide conclusive evidence against early segregation of the mammalian germline.
[5] Blastocyst injection was later adopted almost universally for assessing the developmental potential of embryonic stem (ES) cells and their competence to colonise the germline following genetic modification.
[10][11] For many years, Gardner chaired the Royal Society's ad hoc committee on 'human embryo research', and later its working group on 'stem cells and cloning'[6] and in this role he often advised on the scientific and ethical implications of cloning, attempting to clarify the complexities of the topic for a public audience.