Katharina Buczek
On Wednesday, May 10, Britain’s fertility regulator confirmed that the UK’s first babies ever conceived via an experimental combination technique using the DNA of three people were born.
According to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, less than five babies were born using this technique– which aimed to prevent the kids from inheriting rare genetic diseases. However, no further information was provided in an effort to protect the identities of the families.
Back in 2015, the UK was the first country to ever adopt legislation that regulated methods intended to prevent women with abnormal mitochondria from passing these defects along to their children.
Mitochondria is the key energy source in cells, and a genetic defect can lead to various diseases– including epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, heart issues, and intellectual disabilities.
Approximately one out of every 200 children born in Britain have a mitochondrial disorder. And since the world’s first-ever baby born using the DNA combining technique was reported in 2016 in the United States, 32 patients in Britain have been authorized for the same treatment.
When a woman has faulty mitochondria, scientists extract genetic material from either an egg or an embryo. Then, this material is transferred into an egg or an embryo from a donor– which has healthy mitochondria. However, the rest of the donor’s key DNA is removed.
Afterward, this fertilized embryo is transferred to the mother’s womb. In the end, the genetic material used from the donor egg makes up under 1% of the baby.
“Mitochondrial donation treatment offers families with severe inherited mitochondrial illness the possibility of a healthy child,” said the UK fertility regulator in a statement.
The scientists involved in this feat, from Newcastle University, have not yet published the treatment’s details. But they reportedly will soon.
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