World's First Three-Parent Baby May Be British

By Frazer Maude, Sky News Reporter

Britain may become the first country in the world to allow babies with three genetic parents to be born.

A landmark decision by the Department of Health has opened the door to controversial treatments for inherited diseases that use donated DNA from a second donor mother.

The Department of Health announced today that the government intends to publish draft regulations later this year in a public consultation about the IVF-based techniques to eradicate Mitochondrial Diseases.

The new regulations to fertility law allowing the procedures will be issued for consultation and then debated in Parliament.

Should MPs find the regulations ethically acceptable, the first patients could be treated within months.

It is envisaged that between five and 10 three-parent babies would be born in Britain each year.

The aim of the IVF treatments is to stamp out serious Mitochondrial Diseases which can be passed from a mother to her children.

Mitochondria replacement involves transferring nuclear genetic material from a mother's egg or embryo into a donor egg or embryo that has had its nuclear DNA removed.

This would allow a woman carrying Mitochondrial Diseases to have healthy children.

Around one in 200 babies are born each year in the UK with defects in the mitochondria, rod-like bodies that supply cells with energy.

One in 6,500 is seriously affected and can suffer potentially life-threatening diseases including a form of muscular dystrophy.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies said: "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. It's only right that we look to introduce this life-saving treatment as soon as we can."

Allowing the currently illegal techniques would mark a turning point. At present only unadulterated sperm and eggs can be used for assisted reproduction treatments.

Professor Doug Turnbull, one of the leaders of the research project based at Newcastle University, said: "I am delighted that the Government is moving forward with publishing draft regulations this year and a final version for debate in Parliament next year."

One of those affected with Mitochondrial Disease is Nicola Parker.

Ms Parker did not know she had Mitochondrial Myopathy, a condition which reduces her energy levels and restricts her movement, until she had already passed it on to her daughter.

She told Sky News: "No parent would ever want to pass on an illness to their child, so this work should be applauded. It means my daughter could now have the chance of being a mother herself one day, without having to take the risk of this genetic condition being passed on again."

But some people think the techniques are ethically questionable.

The ethical issue is that the techniques will result in a tiny trace of DNA from the donor egg's mitochondria remaining, effectively creating a baby with three genetic parents.

Josephine Quintavalle, founder of the group Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE), thinks the creation of children with genetic material from more than two people is incompatible with both human dignity and international law.

"We're obviously outraged, but it's not just my outrage and the outrage of many people in the United Kingdom - it's worldwide.

"People just mustn't sit back comfortably and think this is a great idea; we're going to cure disease and get better.

"It's crossing a line that many, many experts in ethics and genetics and scientists generally are very concerned about worldwide."

Dame Sally said: "There are clearly some sensitive issues here, but it's clear there is general support to allow these treatments subject to strict safeguards. So what we're going to do is move forward."

The researchers at Newcastle University say they need to carry out more tests on human eggs in order to make sure the techniques are proven and safe.

In order to speed up that process they are asking potential donors in the North East to contact them.

Details can be found at www.ncl.ac.uk/eggdonate.

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