Three-parent babies are a step closer after a watchdog gave research the go-ahead despite life-meddling fears. Parents at high risk of having children with severe disabilities such as muscular dystrophy will be offered the controversial new in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. After being asked to review ‘three-parent IVF’ by ministers, the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (
HFEA) has ruled it is
potentially useful. The method could help a small number of patients at risk of passing on lethal genetic diseases, said its expert panel.
The IVF technique uses DNA from two women and one man to overcome faults which can lead to incurable, deadly genetic illnesses. Any babies born would inherit two percent of their DNA from an egg donor with the rest coming from their father and his female partner. The technique is, however, still being considered
controversial because it involves germ line modification of the embryo's DNA, meaning the third party's genetic material would not only be passed on to the child, but also to future generations down the female line.
The European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine allows modifications to the human genome “
only if its aim is not to introduce any modification in the genome of any descendants”. The technique aims at tackling a collection of rare hereditary conditions which are caused by mutated mitochondria – structures which supply power to our cells. It aims to prevent a range of brain, liver and heart diseases caused by faults in a mother’s eggs. Around 200 babies a year are born with these conditions.
About 99.8 per cent of human DNA, including all the genes which govern human appearance and identity, is found in the nucleus of cells and is inherited evenly from both parents, but a small fraction resides in the power-supplying mitochondria and is only passed on from mother to child. Defects in the mitochondria can cause a range of serious problems including muscular dystrophy and affect about one in every 6,500 children born in the UK – greater than the number affected by childhood cancer.
After a national public consultation showed Britons broadly favor the idea, the government's chief physician said it should be allowed to go ahead under strict regulation. "Scientists have developed ground-breaking new procedures which could stop these diseases being passed on, bringing hope to many families seeking to prevent their children inheriting them," Professor Sally Davies, the chief medical officer,
told reporters.
Sally Davies compared the process to changing a faulty battery in a car. The new mitochondria from the third parent make the child healthy but would not change their outward appearance. "Mitochondrial disease can have a devastating impact on people who inherit it. It's only right that we look to introduce this life-saving treatment as soon as we can," she said.
However, critics are horrified by the HFEA’s approval and accused doctors of meddling with the building blocks of life. David King, director of the Human Genetics Alert campaign group, said the techniques are unnecessary and their use is ethically unsound. He criticizes the government for failing to conduct a more comprehensive public consultation.
