U.K. may OK ‘three-parent’ babies

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U.K. may OK ‘three-parent’ babies
AP
Jun 28, 2013

LONDON – Britain may allow a controversial technique to create babies using DNA from three people, a move that would help couples avoid passing on rare genetic diseases, the country’s top medical officer says.

The new techniques help women with faulty mitochondria — cells’ energy sources, which have their own DNA — from passing on to their babies defects that can result in such diseases as muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, heart problems and mental retardation. About one in 200 children is born every year in Britain with a mitochondrial disorder.

For a woman with faulty mitochondrial, scientists using these techniques take only the healthy genetic material from her egg or embryo. They then transfer that into a donor egg or embryo that still has its healthy mitochondria but has had its main DNA removed. The fertilized embryo is then transferred into the womb of the mother.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/06/28/world/u-k-may-ok-three-parent-babies/