British ‘3-parent’ IVF babies could come as early as 2015

This week, U.S. Food and Drug Administration found itself under the microscope for taking on the hotly debated mitochondrial manipulation and three-parent IVF process, Britain may see their first three-parent babies by next year.

While the procedure is still banned, officials are making a strong push to make changes in the law to help prevent debilitating diseases in children, like muscular dystrophy.

The Department of Health has launched a consultation on draft guidelines, which is due to end in May. Under the new rules, IVF clinics will be able to replace a baby’s defective mitochondrial DNA with healthy DNA from a female donor’s egg.

While the process is farther along in the U.K., critics are singing a familiar tune.

“If passed, this will be the first time any government has legalized inheritable human genome modification, something that is banned in all other European countries,” said Dr. David King, the director of the pressure group Human Genetics Alert. “The techniques have not passed the necessary safety tests so it is unnecessary and premature to rush ahead with legalisation.”

And just like other critics in the U.S., King challenges the ethics behind the techniques, since risks are still unknown and human genome modification could have some drastic and possibly negative social consequences.

On the other hand, proponents are embracing the new technology, heralding it as a potential cure for severe mitochondrial diseases that devastate families.

“The technology proposed will bring hope to those carrying the disorders,” said Professor Peter Braude, head of obstetrics and gynaecology at King’s College London. “I am pleased that the government has been brave enough to follow through on their promises given during the 2008 revision of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.”

Around one in every 200 babies born in the UK suffer from a severe mitochondrial disorder that can be passed through the maternal line, in rare occurrences.

According to Braude, proposed changes to the regulations will ensure that only informed couples will be the only ones given access to this technology.

Once the rules are brought in, it will be up to the fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), to decide whether a treatment can go ahead on a case-by-case basis.Mitochondrial transfer will only be allowed when there is a “significant risk” of disability or serious illness. Children born after mitochondrial transfer will not be entitled to discover the identity of the “third parent” donor.

As Britain pursues this new technology, U.S. critics and supporters should pay close attention. The FDA, at this time, is only looking at the process and will most likely be tied up for the next several years, if not the next ten, arguing the ethics and the safety of the procedure.

Fear of “designer babies” may run rampant, but the reality of this is, much like anything in life, it could potentially be used for a myriad of different reasons – both good and bad.

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1 thought on “British ‘3-parent’ IVF babies could come as early as 2015”

  1. 1 in 4000 children develop mitochondrial diseases, of which only about 15% are caused by mitochondrial DNA. Check your facts. “Around one in every 200 babies born in the UK suffer from a severe mitochondrial disorder”
    Ref: DiMauro, S., & Davidzon, G. (2005). Mitochondrial DNA and disease. Annals of medicine, 37(3), 222-232.

    Reply

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