And baby makes four
Feb 6 2008 by Audrey Barton, The Journal
NORTH-East scientists have created human embryos containing DNA from a man and two women which may lead to the birth of the world’s first baby with “two mothers”.
Newcastle researchers believe the procedure could prevent incurable genetic diseases being passed from a mother to her children, including deafness, blindness and strokes.
The team is hoping to be granted a licence to bring the experimental treatment to help at risk families with mothers or relatives who have one of the conditions in the next five to 10 years.
But pro-life supporters were dismayed by the prospect of genetically-altered babies being born in Britain, and said the researchers should not meddle in the “building blocks of life”.
Professor Patrick Chinnery, a neurogenetic expert on the team at Newcastle University, said: “The research aims to tackle and prevent a group of relatively uncommon but really severe diseases which affect the nervous system and muscles.
“Ultimately in many of the cases, they are fatal and there is no treatment. The aim is to develop ways of preventing them from being passed on from the mother to her offspring.”
The team at Newcastle University, one of the country’s leading research centres, used 10 embryos which were not suitable for IVF treatment.
They replaced faulty mitochondria cells from the mother with undamaged cells from a female donor.
The embryos were allowed to develop for five days, and the transplant was deemed to be a success after one of them was closely analysed.
Similar tests in mice have also worked in laboratory conditions.
Prof Chinnery said swapping mitochondria could be seen as routine in the future as we now consider bone marrow transplants for children with leukaemia.
“You cannot separate from the ethical debate the severity of the devastating nature of these diseases for which there is no treatment.”
Mitochondria play a vital role in the body’s energy supply, but if they are damaged they can cause a series of serious neuro-muscular diseases, liver failure, deafness, strokes or blindness.
Prof Chinnery said if there was a “spelling mistake” in the mitochondria’s DNA code, it was passed from the mother to her child, but “good” mitochondria could in the future be transplanted from a donor.
This would be done within days of fertilisation using IVF, he said.
While Prof Chinnery was unable to give a precise timescale, he believed the treatment could be offered to families within five to 10 years.
The scientists insist the baby would only inherit the mother and father’s characteristics, as the transplanted mitochondria from the donor would not have any effect on the child’s personality or appearance.
It has been likened to the process of swapping a computer’s battery supply without affecting its hard-drive.
But Josephine Quintavelle, of the pro-life group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, condemned the procedure.
“This is a very risky and dangerous way forward.
“We should not be messing around with the building blocks of life.”
The government this week rejected an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would allow the treatment to be used without seeking the permission of Parliament by seeking the approval of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority instead. However, it gave assurances the issue would be debated soon and that there would be “full public consideration”.
To see previous Journal stories on this subject, click the links below
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