Genetic breakthrough could produce ‘babies with three parents’

Reserachers at Newcastle University have transferred material from a healthy fertilized human egg into an unhealthy one, repairing the egg's genetic flaws. This method has been developed in the hope to cure a class of genetic disorders by transplanting parts of one embryonic cell form one mother to another, thus causing the possibility of  biological parents for the child. This procedure is meant to fix flawed mitochondira thus turning a faulty egg into a healthy embryo.

Mitochondria contains DNA and therefore the child could inherit genes from not two but three biological parents. The Times of London says ""The mother and father would supply 99.8 per cent of its DNA, but a small amount would come from a second woman, the mitochondrial donor."

This method naturally brought up several ethical and social issues and raised numerous questions. Is this new third parent or donor classified as a parent? Would the child have two biological mothers? The third parent was downplayed by Doug Turnbull who was a neurologist from Newcastle. He stated that this other "parent" was merely a donor and provided the means for the child to be born healthy and should not play a vital role in the child's life.

One child in every 6500 births is affected with mitochondrial disease for which there is no cure and this can cause heart failure, liver failure, blindness, muscle weakness and learning disabilities. The scientists hope that this could be a solution for parents to have when they are faced with the decision to have a child with the possibility of the child being born with severe disabilities. The method has not left the lab as British law prohibits artificially created embryos being placed in a  woman's womb.