Starting next year, children in the U.K. may be born with the DNA of three different people, after a Parliamentary vote earlier today approved a controversial fertility procedure.

The lower chamber of British Parliament, the House of Commons, voted 382-128 today to pass a bill authorizing an in-vitro fertilization technique that would combine two parents’ genetic material with that of a third female donor. The upper chamber, the House of Lords, is expected to take up the issue next month; if they also vote in favor, three-person IVF could become legal by October, making the U.K. the first country in the world to permit it.

The procedure would allow women who carry the genes for mitochondrial disease—a collection of inherited and incurable conditions—to have their own biological children without passing down the risk. Mitochondria, often described as the “power center” of the cell, are the organelles that provide it with energy. They also have 37 genes within them—and when those genes have certain mutations, they can trigger a host of debilitating and sometimes fatal problems, including muscular dystrophy, heart and liver issues, seizures, and diabetes. Worldwide, an estimated one out of every 6,500 children is thought to have some form of mitochondrial disease, which can only be passed down from mother to child (sperm doesn’t play a role).

Read more below:


http://news.yahoo.com/three-people-baby-185550160--politics.html

interesting ... ftc

Isokay

let those over-sabi people not go and create an evil mutant one day oh!

a chance to remove untreatable diseases via mitochondrial transplant

pickabeau1:
a chance to remove untreatable diseases via mitochondrial transplant

I am not sure it's that simple, or the process as described.

The nucleus of the embryo with the mitochondrial problems is removed and placed in ann embryo with issue free mitochondria.
Essentially, you have 2 embryos to start with and only one at the end. One is in a sense "killed", hence the ethical opposition by some.

The other question I have is how we know that there are no other consequences?


TV

TV01:

I am not sure it's that simple, or the process as described.

The nucleus of the embryo with the mitochondrial problems is removed and placed in ann embryo with issue free mitochondria.
Essentially, you have 2 embryos to start with and only one at the end. One is in a sense "killed", hence the ethical opposition by some.

You got it right
Nothing beyond the average is ever simple.
The degenerative diseases caused by mitochondrial issues are terrible
One woman in the bbc article i read a while back lost all her kids and will soon lose the last one

its a chance for families like this

The other question I have is how we know that there are no other consequences?


TV

Yes no one knows the uncharted areas this could lead to

walai im confused

pickabeau1:

You got it right
Nothing beyond the average is ever simple.
The degenerative diseases caused by mitochondrial issues are terrible
One woman in the bbc article i read a while back lost all her kids and will soon lose the last one

its a chance for families like this

And who wouldn't want to show compassion - but is it the only chance?

pickabeau1:
Yes no one knows the uncharted areas this could lead to

I'm no geneticist - by a long shot, can't even claim much elementary science knowledge , but all sorts of scenarios come to mind. I hope they are mostly mute or they have them covered off.


TV

Nice idea if you ask me
The children will be like an hybrid of some sort.
Hopefully, there are no problems years down the line. Technology of this kind can be a lil bit dangerous but I sincerely hope it isn't.


Soon, we should be able to pick the genes in our men for our children too
very soon

TV01:

And who wouldn't want to show compassion - but is it the only chance?

you're just very allergic to change
I believe they'll not go on a mass scale at first, probably start with about 4 or 5 amd watch them over the years for any issues.
if everything goes well, then..............
I hope for everything to go well though, but if care is not taken, sounds like a breeding ground for mutations

TV01:

And who wouldn't want to show compassion - but is it the only chance?


I'm no geneticist - by a long shot, can't even claim much elementary science knowledge , but all sorts of scenarios come to mind. I hope they are mostly mute or they have them covered off.


TV

Yes..its a chance

No one can know exactly where it will lead

That's science

A nice idea on paper but I hope they don't turn up with a Frankenstein.

alutacontinua:

you're just very allergic to change

Not really, but always like to be informed and give pause for thought were there are moral considerations. I woul dimagine most people would do the same - unless they had no moral concenrs about it.

alutacontinua:
I believe they'll not go on a mass scale at first, probably start with about 4 or 5 amd watch them over the years for any issues. if everything goes well, then..............

I kind doubt that for a number of reasons;
1. One's legislated for it moves into tthe domain of regulated medical practice. Anyone qualified can carry it out.
2. The demand may be relatively low - women who suffer from the problem - but time is of the essence; some don't have that kind of time.
3. There has been no such suggestion in the reports

alutacontinua:
I hope for everything to go well though, but if care is not taken, sounds like a breeding ground for mutations

I understand that some believe that mutations are not always a bad thing - and without them, we wouldn't be here !


TV

^{**morals & mutations**}

So the procedure is aimed primarily at treating or working around genetic diseases - this is good.

However, I see no other benefit or why it should be necessary.

Mods. Lalastical and Seun I think this is a fp material