‘Three-parent babies’ may be born soon at first licensed UK fertility clinic

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A fertility clinic in Newcastle was just granted permission to start performing what’s known as the ‘three-parent baby’ technique, a controversial in vitro fertilization procedure that prevents genetic diseases from being passed on to children by giving them three genetic ‘parents.’

The technique relies on DNA from a mother, father, and a female donor in order to keep a mom from passing on mitochondrial diseases. Mitochondrial DNA is made up of just 37 genes and can only be passed on to a child by its mother. So by replacing that tiny bit of genetic code via in vitro fertilization, it’s possible to save a child from a deadly disorder they would otherwise definitely inherit.

In December 2016, the UK’s Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority approved the technique as safe for clinical use. On [March 16], it issued the first license for the procedure to the Newcastle Fertility Centre. The clinic’s first three-parent babies could be born early next year.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: The UK Just Granted the First License to Commercialize Controversial ‘Three-Parent’ Babies

For more background on the Genetic Literacy Project, read GLP on Wikipedia.

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