UK gov’t given go-ahead for ‘three-parent’ genetically altered embryos
by Hilary White
LONDON, March 27, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A technique to implant donor DNA from a third party into in vitro embryos has been approved by the British Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). The technique is a form of “germline” alteration that involves modification of the person’s mitochondrial DNA (MDNA) to create genetic changes that will be carried on throughout subsequent generations.
The recommendation to allow the technique follows a public consultation ordered by the government in which the HFEA said they found “broad support”. The report said that the potential benefits outweighed the risks and that there is no evidence that the procedure is unsafe.
The HFEA report said that it should only be used to avoid “serious diseases” and that clinics offering the technique must be licensed. It also recommended that the children created using this genetic alteration technique be monitored.
The HFEA has already granted individual researchers licenses to conduct human cloning experiments that would create embryos from three parents. In 2005, the body allowed an experiment in which embryos were created from the combined ova of two women with the sperm from a single father, also in an attempt to treat mitochondrial genetic diseases.
The report has been passed on to ministers who will consider whether to bring forward legislation.
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