Britain announced on Tuesday that it is allowing a three-parent IVF technique to protect the baby from being born with incurable diseases from its original mother. The country becomes the first to approve such procedure despite opposition of critics.
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a fertilization process wherein the egg and sperm are manually combined in a laboratory dish before the embryo is transferred to the uterus. But that means one mother and one father only. The three-parent IVF, on the other hand, will combine two eggs from two different mothers and a sperm from a father.
The three-parent IVF technique is an option for families with mitochondrial, incurable diseases who want to ensure the survival of their children. But such procedure is opposed by religious groups and other critics, as it is a step towards creating designer babies, according to Reuters.
A designer baby is a baby whose DNA was selected to purposely eliminate a particular defect, or to ensure that the baby will carry a preferred gene.
The parliament voted 382 to 128 in favor of the three-parent IVF, specifically mitochondrial donation. With this technique, the baby will not inherit the donor's hair or eye color, appearance or personality traits. Those who favored the technique argued that it is the baby's chance of survival and to live without those incurable diseases.
"I for one would be absolutely certain I wouldn't stand here and defend the concept of designer babies - choosing the color of the eyes and all the rest of it. This is about purely dealing with those terrible, terrible illnesses," opposition Labour lawmaker Andrew Miller, chair of parliament's science and technology committee, said during the debate.
Now that the technique has been approved by the parliament, it will proceed to the House of Lords and if approved, the first baby born through three-parent IVF could be expected by next year, BBC News reported.
Lord Robert Winston, a professor of science and society at Imperial Collge of London and IVF pioneer, expressed his full support for the technique.
"If mitochondrial treatments could prevent disease, this is to be celebrated as we are using the God-given intelligence afforded us," he told The Telegraph.
