Three-Parent Children on the Horizon for UK

Scientists in the UK have asked the government to approve three-parent babies after experts ruled the practice “not unsafe” and “potentially useful,” according to a Telegraph report.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) made this ruling after examining “voluminous” amounts of data.

To be certain of the HFEA claims it will be necessary to conduct further experiments on human embryos.

Oocyte modification, commonly called “three-parent in vitro fertilization (IVF),” is the process by which damaged mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the woman’s egg are replaced with healthy mtDNA of a female donor, thus allowing a child to be born with healthy mitochondria.

Experts who want to introduce this procedure say that it prevents “deadly mitochondrial diseases” that arise from damaged mitochondria in the mothers.

These diseases affect one in 6,500 babies and are responsible for 50 genetic diseases, including muscle weakness, blindness, heart failure, and possibly death. Damaged mitochondria can also cause women to miscarry multiple times.

Children only inherit mitochondria from the mother.

Because scientists are not certain what the effects will be in humans, the HFEA called for more tests before mitochondrial IVF could be conducted on human embryos. Even if this procedure is approved, it will mostly likely be two years before experiments are finished.

Chairman of the scientific review panel, Prof Andy Greenfield, stated:

Are these techniques safe in humans? We won’t know that until it’s actually done in humans. Until a healthy baby is born we cannot say 100% that these techniques are safe. If you think back to when IVF was a new technology all of these questions were asked before IVF.”

The practice is currently banned in Britain. However, advocates of the procedure say that it would prevent genetic diseases from being transferred to a child while still allowing the mother to have biological children.

In the UK, 100 babies a year are affected by mitochondrial disease. According to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, 1,000 to 4,000 babies in the US are born with mitochondrial diseases each year. Although this seems like a lot, it is a fraction of all the babies born and is recieving disproportionate attention in the medical field. Why is there such a push to get this procedure legalized when there are so many more deadly diseases that could be addressed?

Part of the answer to this question has to do with medical prestige. The medical professionals in the UK have stated that they want to be the first to begin experimenting with this technique. As a Department of Health spokesperson acknowledged, mIVF will “keep the UK at the forefront of scientific development in this area.”

Another factor is that these experiments open the door for all kinds of other procedures in human genetics. It’s a gateway to an “anything goes” mentality in the field of human embryology.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, three-parent children is the perfect way to allow same-sex couples, particularly lesbians, to have biological children. Because this procedure allows two eggs to be used in conception, both “mothers” could have their DNA used with a sperm from a male donor.

Unfortunately, the ethical aspect of this issue is being overlooked by advocates of of the procedure. Three parent children would possess DNA from three people, which could potentially lead to the creation of “designer children.”

A small set of DNA resides in the mitochondria of every human, so any person born from this procedure would possess DNA from three people.

Proponents of the procedure justify it by saying that a human being’s characteristics come from nuclear DNA, not mitochondrial DNA. But if this is the case, why do the damaged mitochondria affect a person’s health? How is this any less important than the person’s physical characteristics?

In addition, scientists have suggested that if the procedure turns out successfully, the children must be monitored for the rest of their lives to make sure there are no adverse effects. These children would essentially be living scientific experiments.

The three parent children practice is unethical and unsafe, but we won’t know the full extent of it until the Government allows scientists to start practicing on human embryos.

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