The government of the United Kingdom recently announced its intention to draw up regulations for an innovative and controversial in vitro fertilization (IVF) technique that will help mothers with a particular type of genetic defect bear healthy children. The UK would be wise to approve the procedure as quickly as possible, and both the United States and European Union should follow suit.
Normally, IVF involves uniting a woman’s egg with a man’s sperm to create a tiny embryo that is implanted into the mother. But this straightforward technique is not possible for women who suffer from a mitochondrial disease. If a woman has a mitochondrial disease, an embryo has essentially a 100% probability of inheriting the disorder. To prevent this, an egg with healthy mitochondria is required. And that’s where the “third parent” comes in.
Read the full, original story here: We Should Approve ‘Three-Parent’ Embryos
Additional Resources:
- “UK becomes first country in world to approve IVF using genes of three parents,” Independent
- “Three-Parent IVF Set to Go Ahead in Britain,” Discover
- “Don’t fear babies made with genes from three parents,” New Scientist
