The following is an edited excerpt.
If you are the parent of a baby with an incurable mitochondrial disease, each growth milestone is a tick closer to midnight, when the energy demands become insurmountable and hospital consultants can offer only condolences.
That is why the recent public consultation over “three-parent babies” by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is so welcome. The HFEA revealed this week that there is broad public support for a new, IVF-based technique to enable babies to be born with healthy mitochondria. It will now, rightly, advise ministers that research should proceed – with careful checks and balances, including licensing of clinics and maintaining anonymity for donors.
Read the full article here: Three parents? Five parents? All that really matters is healthy babies
