Three-Parent Baby: UK's First Child Born With DNA From Three People After New IVF Procedure
A unique IVF procedure has resulted in the birth of the first baby in the UK with DNA derived from three individuals. Most of the DNA of the baby comes from their two parents but around 0.1 per cent from a third, donor woman.
Delhi, May 10: A unique IVF procedure has resulted in the birth of the first baby in the UK with DNA derived from three individuals. Most of the DNA of the baby comes from their two parents but around 0.1 per cent from a third, donor woman.
BBC reported that the pioneering technique is known as mitochondrial donation treatment (MDT) and the procedure aims at stopping a mother from passing on defective genes in the mitochondria, tiny power plants in cells that supply energy, to her child.
The technique involves giving a woman an IVF baby with DNA from three individuals. Baby Born With Two Penis: Pakistani Boy Born With Two Working Penises and No Anus in Rare Medical Condition Diphallia.
The baby will have nuclear DNA from its mother and father which define key characteristics such as personality and eye colour. In addition, it will have a tiny amount of mitochondrial DNA provided by a female donor – the third “parent”. Babies Born After Being Conceived by PlayStation-Controlled Sperm-Injecting Robot.
Up to five such babies have been born, but no further details have been released.
Britain became the first country in the world to formally allow mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) when the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) gave a cautious green light to the procedure.
According to experts, Mitochondrial diseases are incurable and can be fatal within days or even hours of birth.
Some families have lost multiple children and this technique is seen as the only option for them to have a healthy child of their own.
UK is not the only country to to create babies from MDT. In 2016, a US doctor announced the world’s first MDT birth after treating a Jordanian woman who carried mitochondrial mutations that cause a fatal condition called Leigh syndrome.
However, experts have said that though the clinical experience with MRT has been “encouraging” but the number of reported cases are “far too small” to draw any definitive conclusions about the “safety or efficacy”.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 10, 2023 12:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).