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Three-parent-babies hospital wants to produce children with genetic material of three people
In the UK, doctors want to father children with the genetic material of three people. Just a few months ago, this method of artificial insemination had been approved in the United Kingdom. The procedure is very controversial.
New method to prevent transmission of hereditary diseases
In December, it was announced that soon three-parent babies could be born in the UK. The United Kingdom is the first country in the world to explicitly allow the controversial artificial insemination of genetic material from three people. The controversial technology is intended to prevent hereditary diseases from being passed on to children.
A clinic in the UK soon wants to father children with the genetic material of three parents. This artificial insemination is intended to prevent the transmission of certain hereditary diseases. The method is very controversial. (Image: Herrndorff / fotolia.com) Granted permission for controversial fertilization
According to media reports, a British clinic was the first to get permission for a controversial artificial insemination with genetic material from three people worldwide.
According to the information, the method should prevent certain diseases that are inherited with the mitochondria. Critics, however, fear that such interventions pave the way to so-called "designer babies".
Mitochondria have their own DNA. They are the powerhouses of the cell and provide energy. Mitochondrial dysfunction can lead to disorders such as muscle weakness and diabetes.
Disrupted cell power plants are replaced by mitochondria of a donor
In the new method, the mother's disturbed cell power plants are replaced by mitochondria from a donor. According to experts, the children thus generated will resemble mother and father. By contrast, the part of the hereditary system originating from the foreign woman is small.
According to the information, doctors are now allowed to treat a total of 25 patients in this way. It is said that the first attempts should start this spring.
Many years of research have led to this "treatment to reduce the risk of mothers transmitting the disease to their children," said Mary Herbert of Newcastle University in a statement.
It could help families "affected by these devastating diseases".
First three-parent baby born in Mexico
Already in December, the authority for fertilization and embryology (HFEA) had approved the method in Great Britain. It is the first country in the world that has explicitly allowed this treatment.
In Mexico, a baby was born in April 2016 for the first time with the genetic material of three parents. There is no legal regulation for the reproductive medical procedure.
Long before the legalization, critics warned against the new methods. "These techniques are unnecessary and insecure and are in fact rejected by the majority," Dr. David King from the "Human Genetics Alert" years ago to the "BBC".
Other experts pointed out that mitochondrial replacement therapy may not always prevent the onset of the disease. (Ad)