Monday, April 6, 2015

Britain set to approve technique to create babies from three people



On January 27, 2015 British lawmakers voted to allow the creation from the DNA of 3 people, a new form of in vitro fertilization, making them the first country to approve the altering of a human egg before placing it in the womb.  This procedure could help to prevent the inheritance of genetic diseases.  It is very common for a mother with defected mitochondria to pass those complications onto her offspring.  Despite the vote being 382 to 128 in favor of the technique, many people argue that is just a way to create “designer babies” and ensure a “perfect child”.  But that is not the case.  This procedure will only be done in mother’s who have faulty mitochondria that do not want to risk transferring any diseases to their children, that is where the third person comes in.  All DNA besides mitochondrial DNA will come from the parents while mitochondrial will come from a donor.  All characteristics of the child will come from the parents, and only to mitochondrial DNA will come from the donor to ensure no defects will be passed on.
            Mitochondrial diseases are devastating and life threatening and there is currently no other treatment towards them.  Receiving DNA from a donor is the only option, making it very appealing to the general public.  The law has yet to be decided as the Church of England would like more time to conduct research to make sure that it will work the way it is intended to so no one is prevented from the use of this scientific advancement.
            In my opinion, this is a brilliant idea.  No parents want to hear that they have passed down a fatal trait to their newborn child, so why should they have to?  Every operation has its problems but based on this article, it seems that the pros definitely outweigh the cons. 

1 comment:

  1. I think this technology is making huge leaps in the realm of fertility. I can see why some people may think they are creating designer babies, but the parents aren't picking any specific traits.There was actually a girl named Alana Saarein, who was born through this type of procedure. Her parents had tried to have a baby several times through invitro fertilization but it failed. Through this process her parents were finally able to carry a child full term, and she is a perfectly healthy child now. People worry about making designer babies, but I think the focus of this research is to make healthy babies.

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