First Baby With DNA From Three People Born In Britain
A fertility regulator confirmed the births of UK’s first babies created using a new and experimental technique that combines the DNA of three people.
Fewer than five babies have been born using this method, with most of their DNA coming from two parents, however, 0.1% was extracted from a donor woman.
This breaks new ground because the technique is an attempt to prevent the children from being born with inherited mitochondrial diseases.
Mitochondrial diseases are incurable, and families have lost newborn babies because of them – they can be fatal within days/hours after giving birth.
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The DNA from the donor does not affect the baby’s looks, but is only relevant for making effective mitochondria.
The research was pioneered in Newcastle and laws to go ahead with the technique have fairly recently been introduced, in 2015.
“News that a small number of babies with donated mitochondria have now been born in the UK is the next step, in what will probably remain a slow and cautious process of assessing and refining mitochondrial donation,” said Sarah Norcross, the director of the Progress Educational Trust.
However, the UK wasn’t the first country to accomplish this, a child in Mexico was born via this procedure in 2016.
Would you consider having a baby with a third person’s DNA?
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