Babies with three parents ahead

[Guest guest]

Here Come Babies with Three Parents

 

Babies with three parents ahead

 

Antony Barnett and Robin McKie

Sunday October 17, 2004

The Observer

 

Here Come Babies with Three Parents

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1329371,00.html

 

 

 

 

Scientists are seeking permission to carry out experiments that would result

in children being born with three biological parents. UK medical authorities

say they will almost certainly approve the application in the next few

weeks.

 

The aim of the technique is to prevent mothers passing on degenerative

genetic diseases to their children. But campaigners say it could lead to

significant increases in elderly women having children. They also claim it

represents an unacceptable step towards the creation of designer babies.

 

 

 

'By creating a child with three genetic parents, these scientists are taking

the first step towards genetic engineering of human beings. That is 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 Newcastle

University - will involve the implanting of the nucleus of an embryo from an

affected mother into an egg taken from a donor that has been stripped of 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 of around

50 degenerative diseases. It is thought more than 1,000 children in Britain

suffer from diseases caused by defective mitochondria, some ending up with

chronic brain disease.

 

 

 

Neurologist Professor Doug Turnbull and embryologist Dr Mary Herbert believe

that by implanting the nucleus of an embryo of a mother with defective

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 Human

Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to carry out the experiments,

stress they are at least three years away from offering the treatment. If

they get approval they will experiment on abnormally fertilised eggs that

have come from IVF treatment which would otherwise have been discarded.

 

 

 

'At the moment there is no cure for these children who are often very ill

with a poor quality of life,' said Turnbull. 'We are at a very early stage

of this work, but it does offer the potential to help many mothers and their

families.'

 

 

 

However, the prospect horrifies groups who believe the ethical problems and

safety risks far outweigh any benefits to future generations. Dr Jamie

Grifo, of New York University, applied to carry out similar experiments but

was prevented from doing so in America. He then carried out operations in

China using a technique similar to that planned by Turnbull and Herbert,

removing the nuclei from one set of eggs and implanting them into another

set of emptied eggs with healthy mitochondria. A Chinese woman became

pregnant as a result, but lost both infants after six months.

 

 

 

Dr King said: 'These new techniques of reproductive technology, which

involve more and more manipulation of embryos, are potentially very risky

for the child.'

 

 

 

Patrick Cusworth, of the charity Life, condemned the work, saying it would

raise questions as to who would be the real mother.

 

 

 

'We would also be concerned about the safety of any embryo or child born

from this method and worried that the technology could be abused by other

scientists for different purposes.'

 

 

 

The claims were dismissed by Paul Preston, of The Children's Mitochondrial

Disease Network. He has three children who suffer from inherited diseases.

 

 

 

'This research offers us real hope and could be a vital step forward,' he

said. 'Anybody who has to live with a child that is unaware of the

environment he lives in, who cannot move and can only eat or drink through a

tube does not realise the suffering caused by such diseases. This is not

about genetic engineering but about stopping children suffering.'

 

 

 

A spokeswoman for the HFEA confirmed it had received an application for the

research but would not comment on when or if it was likely to be approved.

 

 

 

 

Special report

Ethics of genetics

 

Full text

November 2003: HFEA report on sex selection

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990

The human reproductive cloning bill (pdf file)

 

Explained

21.04.2004: Embryo cloning

Stem cell research

 

Interactive guides

Human cloning: how it might be done

The human genome

 

Weblog special

Human cloning in links

 

Useful links

Human fertilisation and embryology authority

Chief medical officer's advisory group on human cloning

GeneWatch UK

BioIndustry Association

Current patents list (pdf)

Human genome project

EU information

Pro Life Alliance

Nuffield Bioethics