"Three-Parent Babies" Could Soon Exist
It takes a village to raise a child, but it could also take three people to make one in the not-too-distant future.
Ethicists from the leading Institute of Medicine decided that it's ok to research "three-parent babies," in a report requested by the federal government. The cautious approval of the procedure, called mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRT), hopes to prevent devastating genetic diseases passed down from mother to child.
In a nutshell, researchers would use the DNA of three people - one man and two women - to reduce the risk of over 200 hereditary diseases, some of which cause seizures, dementia, and blindness. These incurable illnesses are caused by damaged mitochondrial DNA, which children only get from their mothers.
Similar to in-vitro fertilization, the proposed procedure would insert the mother's nuclear DNA into a healthy, donated ovum, and then fertilize the hybrid egg with the father's sperm. This process would create embryos that primarily have the traits of the two parents, but without the risk of unhealthy mitochondrial DNA.
Any resulting embryo would mostly be the genetic child of the two parents but would get their 37 mitochondrial genes from the female egg donor.
As a refresher, mitochondria creates energy in our cells - a vital function that allows the body to run. But the genes inside these microscopic powerhouses actually account for less than 1% of a person's inherited traits, so the resulting child would mostly take after the two adults donating nuclear DNA.
Of course, the Institute of Medicine proposed several safety steps. 'There's the issue of "playing God,"' the panel noted. "These concerns warrant significant caution and the imposition of restrictions rather than a blanket prohibition." Researchers should focus on cases where there's a high risk of heritability and start testing with male babies. By only creating sons, any potentially negative changes won't affect future generations.
While it may seem a little like Frankenstein, this landmark decision actually provides a lot of hope. Mothers who worry about passing on these devastating diseases - or abstain from having kids altogether – could have children still genetically related to them. Now, the future looks pretty bright.
[H/T NBC News]
