Three-parent babies could be a reality in the near future.
A British panel gave backing to a possible three-way fertility treatment that would implant genetically modified embryos into women, Reuters reported.
This technique, dubbed mitochondrial replacement, could be available within two years. The method is currently is the research phase.
Mitochondrial replacement would be illegal in the eyes of today's British government, but new draft legislation could change that as long the techniques prove to be safe.
The method would take eggs from two women and sperm from one man; the point of this would be to prevent mitochondrial diseases that can only be passed from mother to child, the BBC reported. These types of disorders can cause symptoms in children such as: "muscle weakness, blindness, heart failure and even death," the BBC reported.
"In the absence of any effective treatment, mitochondrial replacement therapies ... offer great hope to families affected by mitochondrial disorders," Peter Braude, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at King's College London and a member of the panel, told Reuters.
Some people who are opposed to the treatments have compared it to "designer babies," but replacing "faulty" mitochondria is much different than the general meaning of that term. The method would not create a child that is outwardly different in any way; it would simply prevent them from being born with a potentially-deadly disease.
"The implementation of any new medical treatment is never wholly without risk, and genetic alteration of disease is an important step for society that should not be taken lightly," Braude told Reuters.
A public consultation showed that residents of Britain generally supported mitochondrial replacement as long as it is strictly regulated.
If the technique is approved other countries such as the United States could follow. Scientists in the U.S. are already working on their own version mitochondrial DNA transfer.
