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UK government backs three-person IVF
By James Gallagher, Health and science reporter, BBC News
The UK looks set to become the first country to allow the creation of babies using DNA from three people, after the government backed the IVF technique.
It will produce draft regulations later this year and the procedure could be offered within two years.
Experts say three-person IVF could eliminate debilitating and potentially fatal mitochondrial diseases that are passed on from mother to child.
Opponents say it is unethical and could set the UK on a "slippery slope".
They also argue that affected couples could adopt or use egg donors instead.
Mitochondria are the tiny, biological "power stations" that give the body energy. They are passed from a mother, through the egg, to her child.
The woman who lost all her children
Every time Sharon Bernardi became pregnant, she hoped for a healthy child.
But all seven of her children died from a rare genetic disease that affects the central nervous system - three of them just hours after birth.
When her fourth child, Edward, was born, doctors discovered the disease was caused by a defect in Sharon's mitochondria.
Edward was given drugs and blood transfusions to prevent the lactic acidosis (a kind of blood poisoning) that had killed his siblings.
Five weeks later Sharon and her husband, Neil, were allowed to take Edward to their home in Sunderland for Christmas - but his health slowly began to deteriorate.
Edward survived into adulthood, dying in 2011 at the age of 21.
Now Sharon is supporting medical research that would allow defective mitochondria to be replaced by DNA from another woman.
Sharon's full story
Defective mitochondria affect one in every 6,500 babies. It can leave them starved of energy, resulting in muscle weakness, blindness, heart failure and death in the most extreme cases.
Research suggests that using mitochondria from a donor egg can prevent the diseases.
It is envisaged that up to 10 couples a year would benefit from the treatment.
However, it would result in babies having DNA from two parents and a tiny amount from a third donor as the mitochondria themselves have their own DNA.
'Clearly sensitive'
Earlier this year, a public consultation by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) concluded there was "general support" for the idea and that there was no evidence that the advanced form of IVF was unsafe.
The chief medical officer for England, Prof Dame Sally Davies, said: "Scientists have developed ground-breaking new procedures which could stop these disease being passed on, bringing hope to many families seeking to prevent their future children inheriting them.
"It's only right that we look to introduce this life-saving treatment as soon as we can."
She said there were "clearly some sensitive issues here" but said she was "personally very comfortable" with altering mitochondria.
Scientists have devised two techniques that allow them to take the genetic information from the mother and place it into the egg of a donor with healthy mitochondria.
BBC News - UK government backs three-person IVF
By James Gallagher, Health and science reporter, BBC News
The UK looks set to become the first country to allow the creation of babies using DNA from three people, after the government backed the IVF technique.
It will produce draft regulations later this year and the procedure could be offered within two years.
Experts say three-person IVF could eliminate debilitating and potentially fatal mitochondrial diseases that are passed on from mother to child.
Opponents say it is unethical and could set the UK on a "slippery slope".
They also argue that affected couples could adopt or use egg donors instead.
Mitochondria are the tiny, biological "power stations" that give the body energy. They are passed from a mother, through the egg, to her child.
The woman who lost all her children
Every time Sharon Bernardi became pregnant, she hoped for a healthy child.
But all seven of her children died from a rare genetic disease that affects the central nervous system - three of them just hours after birth.
When her fourth child, Edward, was born, doctors discovered the disease was caused by a defect in Sharon's mitochondria.
Edward was given drugs and blood transfusions to prevent the lactic acidosis (a kind of blood poisoning) that had killed his siblings.
Five weeks later Sharon and her husband, Neil, were allowed to take Edward to their home in Sunderland for Christmas - but his health slowly began to deteriorate.
Edward survived into adulthood, dying in 2011 at the age of 21.
Now Sharon is supporting medical research that would allow defective mitochondria to be replaced by DNA from another woman.
Sharon's full story
Defective mitochondria affect one in every 6,500 babies. It can leave them starved of energy, resulting in muscle weakness, blindness, heart failure and death in the most extreme cases.
Research suggests that using mitochondria from a donor egg can prevent the diseases.
It is envisaged that up to 10 couples a year would benefit from the treatment.
However, it would result in babies having DNA from two parents and a tiny amount from a third donor as the mitochondria themselves have their own DNA.
'Clearly sensitive'
Earlier this year, a public consultation by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) concluded there was "general support" for the idea and that there was no evidence that the advanced form of IVF was unsafe.
The chief medical officer for England, Prof Dame Sally Davies, said: "Scientists have developed ground-breaking new procedures which could stop these disease being passed on, bringing hope to many families seeking to prevent their future children inheriting them.
"It's only right that we look to introduce this life-saving treatment as soon as we can."
She said there were "clearly some sensitive issues here" but said she was "personally very comfortable" with altering mitochondria.
Scientists have devised two techniques that allow them to take the genetic information from the mother and place it into the egg of a donor with healthy mitochondria.
BBC News - UK government backs three-person IVF
