Babies with three parents ahead

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Will you take these two women to be your lawful wedded wives?

 

Or you & me babe, and Dr Frankenstein?

 

 

 

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JDC

Tempest

Monday, October 18, 2004 9:20 AM

Fw: Babies with three parents ahead

 

 

- MOM

mom-l

Monday, October 18, 2004 8:17 AM

Babies with three parents ahead

 

The Observer UKBabies with three parents ahead Antony Barnett and Robin McKieSunday October 17, 2004The Observer Scientists are seeking permission to carry out experiments that wouldresult in children being born with three biological parents. UK medicalauthorities say they will almost certainly approve the application in thenext few weeks. The aim of the technique is to prevent mothers passing on degenerativegenetic diseases to their children. But campaigners say it could lead tosignificant increases in elderly women having children. They also claimit represents an unacceptable step towards the creation of designerbabies. 'By creating a child with three genetic parents, these scientists aretaking the first step towards genetic engineering of human beings. Thatis not a direction in which we should be going,' said Dr David King,director of Human Genetics Alert. The technology - which is being developed by a team at NewcastleUniversity - will involve the implanting of the nucleus of an embryo froman affected mother into an egg taken from a donor that has been strippedof its nucleus. Human eggs carry small spherical or rod-like bodies called mitochondria,which supply energy for the growing foetus. These have their own genes,inherited separately from the child's main chromosomal genes. Crucially, some mitochondrial DNA is defective and can pass on one ofaround 50 degenerative diseases. It is thought more than 1,000 childrenin Britain suffer from diseases caused by defective mitochondria, someending up with chronic brain disease. Neurologist Professor Doug Turnbull and embryologist Dr Mary Herbertbelieve that by implanting the nucleus of an embryo of a mother withdefective mitochondria into the egg of a woman with healthy mitochondria,the resultant foetus will be free of the destructive genetic diseases. The Newcastle team, which has applied for permission from the HumanFertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to carry out theexperiments, stress they are at least three years away from offering thetreatment. If they get approval they will experiment on abnormallyfertilised eggs that have come from IVF treatment which would otherwisehave been discarded. 'At the moment there is no cure for these children who are often very illwith a poor quality of life,' said Turnbull. 'We are at a very earlystage of this work, but it does offer the potential to help many mothersand their families.' However, the prospect horrifies groups who believe the ethical problemsand safety risks far outweigh any benefits to future generations. DrJamie Grifo, of New York University, applied to carry out similarexperiments but was prevented from doing so in America. He then carriedout operations in China using a technique similar to that planned byTurnbull and Herbert, removing the nuclei from one set of eggs andimplanting them into another set of emptied eggs with healthymitochondria. A Chinese woman became pregnant as a result, but lost bothinfants after six months. Dr King said: 'These new techniques of reproductive technology, whichinvolve more and more manipulation of embryos, are potentially very riskyfor the child.' Patrick Cusworth, of the charity Life, condemned the work, saying itwould raise questions as to who would be the real mother. 'We would also be concerned about the safety of any embryo or child bornfrom this method and worried that the technology could be abused by otherscientists for different purposes.' The claims were dismissed by Paul Preston, of The Children'sMitochondrial Disease Network. He has three children who suffer frominherited diseases. 'This research offers us real hope and could be a vital step forward,' hesaid. 'Anybody who has to live with a child that is unaware of theenvironment he lives in, who cannot move and can only eat or drinkthrough a tube does not realise the suffering caused by such diseases.This is not about genetic engineering but about stopping childrensuffering.' A spokeswoman for the HFEA confirmed it had received an application forthe research but would not comment on when or if it was likely to beapproved.Special reportEthics of geneticsFull textNovember 2003: HFEA report on sex selectionHuman Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990The human reproductive cloning bill (pdf file)Explained21.04.2004: Embryo cloningStem cell researchInteractive guidesHuman cloning: how it might be doneThe human genome

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