Are two mothers one too many?

Sep 10 2005 By Graeme Whitfield, The Journal

New research being carried out in the North offers hope to couples who pass on cruel genetic diseases to their children. But, as Graeme Whitfield reports, it has raised concerns from traditionalists who fear that meddling with our genetic make-up is a further step towards "designer babies".

As if cloning the first embryo in Europe was not enough, scientists at Newcastle's Centre for Life have this week found fresh ways of creating headlines around the world.

Thursday night saw the world's media focus on Tyneside after a licence was granted to allow Professor Doug Turnbull and Dr Mary Herbert to create human embryos that will have genetic material from two women.

The research aims to find ways of preventing genetic conditions known as mitochondrial diseases being passed from mothers to their children.

But the reaction to the possibility of a child being born with two mothers was met with horror by pro-life and family values campaigners.

While the issue is debated in the press, a less obvious battle is going on in the conflict between science and the law, with the legalities concerning genetic engineering seeming increasingly unable to cope with the fast-moving advances in medical science.

Eyebrows were raised when the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) granted the Newcastle licence for the double-mother embryo at a time when the Government is consulting on the laws that govern genetic science for this very reason.

A spokesperson for Comment on Reproductive Ethics said: "The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act was never meant as a free-for-all and the legality of allowing germ line engineering is highly questionable."

The Newcastle scientists' application was twice turned down by the HFEA and only allowed on appeal when eminent scientists argued that the work being done did not break the law.

Barrister James Lawford Davies, of law firm Bevan Brittan, argued the case on behalf of the Newcastle scientists and said the battle to allow the medical research shows the limitations of a law drafted 15 years ago - an age in terms of current genetic advances. He said: "This is a good illustration of why the Government's review of the law in this area is necessary. It has taken 18 months and three hearings to obtain a licence, largely because the 1990 Act is very ambiguous when applied to research of this kind."

The Newcastle team have won permission to transfer the pro-nuclei - the components of a human embryo nucleus - made by one man and one woman into an unfertilised egg from another woman. The groundbreaking work aims to prevent mothers from passing certain genetic diseases from DNA found in the mitochondria outside the nucleus on to their babies by using a healthy mitochondria from a second woman.

The mitochondria are the "powerhouse" of the cell, producing most of the energy that people need to grow and live, but when the mitochondrial DNA is damaged it can lead to conditions including muscular dystrophy, brain damage and still births.

Though rare - mitochondrial diseases affect around one in 5,000 people - the conditions are distressing and at present there is no known cure. Studies on mice show it is possible to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial disease by moving the nucleus from an egg containing bad mitochondria to another egg, which only contains good mitochondria.

Now Prof Turnbull, professor of neurology at Newcastle University, and Dr Herbert, scientific director of Newcastle Fertility Centre at the city's Centre for Life, hope to do the same in humans.

The eventual aim of the process - though still many years in the future and not until more applications for licences are made and considered by the HFEA - would be a baby that would technically have two mothers.

But according to Professor John Burn, medical director for genetics at the Centre for Life, such a situation could be compared to surrogate mothers or even adoption and fostering. He said: "It might seem rather alarming when you talk of having more than one mother but it's a very technical point.

"The baby would get around 25,000 genes from each parent and an extra 37 from the woman donating the mitochondria. All of the genes that dictate appearance and intelligence would come from the parents. The genes from the donor woman would only ensure that the mitochondria was healthy."

Prof Turnbull and Dr Herbert's research is strongly backed by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, which is donating £170,000 over the next three years to fund the work. Janice Bryan, from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, said: "The ethics have already been explored by the HFEA which has a rigorous testing procedure."