The UK looks set to become the first country to allow the creation of babies using DNA from three people, after the government backed the In vitro fertilization (IVF) technique.
It will produce draft regulations later this year and the procedure could be offered within two years. Experts say three-person IVF could eliminate debilitating and potentially fatal mitochondrial diseases that are passed on from mother to child. It is a change that would have ramifications through the generations as scientists would be altering human genetic inheritance.
Dr David King, the director of Human Genetics Alert, said: “These techniques are unnecessary and unsafe and were in fact rejected by the majority of consultation responses. “It is a disaster that the decision to cross the line that will eventually lead to a eugenic designer baby market should be taken on the basis of an utterly biased and inadequate consultation.”
Dr David King, the director of Human Genetics Alert, said: “These techniques are unnecessary and unsafe and were in fact rejected by the majority of consultation responses. “It is a disaster that the decision to cross the line that will eventually lead to a eugenic designer baby market should be taken on the basis of an utterly biased and inadequate consultation.”
One of the main concerns raised in the HFEA’s public consultation was of a “slippery slope” which could lead to other forms of genetic modification.
Newcastle University is pioneering one of the techniques that could be used for three-person IVF. Prof Doug Turnbull, the director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research at the university, said he was “delighted”.
He said: “This is excellent news for families with mitochondrial disease. “This will give women who carry these diseased genes more reproductive choice and the opportunity to have children free of mitochondrial disease. I am very grateful to all those who have supported this work.”
The fine details of the regulations are still uncertain, yet it is expected to be for only the most severe cases.
It is also likely that children would have no right to know who the egg donor was and that any children resulting from the procedure would be monitored closely for the rest of their lives.
He said: “This is excellent news for families with mitochondrial disease. “This will give women who carry these diseased genes more reproductive choice and the opportunity to have children free of mitochondrial disease. I am very grateful to all those who have supported this work.”
The fine details of the regulations are still uncertain, yet it is expected to be for only the most severe cases.
It is also likely that children would have no right to know who the egg donor was and that any children resulting from the procedure would be monitored closely for the rest of their lives.
People will soon be going 1/3 on a baby, but is it only a matter of time before this starts a creepy new market for babies who have certain traits/features?
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