The U.K. government may soon be approving the creation of babies from the DNA of three people. This technique is being used in order to prevent mothers from passing on disorders through defective mitochondria.
The U.K. government is in the process of granting permission to scientists to create babies from the DNA of three people. It will draft regulations later this year and the procedure will be offered within the next two years. In a press statement, Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies said that this new technique will help prevent mothers from passing on possibly fatal mitochondrial diseases to their babies.
"Scientists have developed ground-breaking new procedures which could stop these diseases being passed on, bringing hope to many families seeking to prevent their future children inheriting them. It's only right that we look to introduce this life-saving treatment as soon as we can," she said in a press statement Friday.
However, not everyone is supporting this decision of the government saying it could send the country on a "slippery slope," and called the technique unethical. Naysayers believe that couples with the rare genetic disease instead can adopt or conceive using egg donors.
Mitochondria are the tiny, biological "power stations" that give the body energy. They are passed on to a baby through the eggs of a mother. Faulty mitochondria could leave a baby deprived of energy, which can lead to blindness, weak muscles and even heart problems.
Using this new technique, scientists will take only the healthy genetic material from a woman's egg or embryo. This material is then injected into a donor's egg that has healthy mitochondria but has other key DNA removed. The fertilized embryo is then transferred into the womb of the mother.
Defective mitochondria affect one in every 6,500 babies. Each year, one in 200 babies born in the U.K. is infected with this genetic disease.
"Mitochondrial disease, including heart disease, liver disease, loss of muscle co-ordination and other serious conditions like muscular dystrophy, can have a devastating impact on the people who inherit it. People who have it live with debilitating illness, and women who are affected face passing it on to their children," said Davies.
The new technique is geared initially to help up to 10 couples a year. Similar studies are also being carried out in the US.
