8 healthy babies born after IVF using DNA from 3 people • FRANCE 24 English

8 healthy babies born after IVF using DNA from 3 people • FRANCE 24 English

was just 8 months old when she died. She’d been born with a genetic mutation of her mitochondria, the part of our cells that generate energy. In 2007, her mother created a charity to fund research on mitochondrial mutations as a tribute to her daughter and for future generations. When you’re diagnosed with a mitochondrial disease, there is no cure and there is no treatment and it is progressive. After a groundbreaking trial, scientists at Newcastle University have just released their findings. Eight healthy babies have been born using a new in vitro fertilization technique. It prevents mutated genes in a mother’s mitochondria from being passed down. The process involves transferring both the nucleus of the mother’s fertilized egg and the nucleus of the father’s sperm into a healthy donor egg. Under strict ethical and medical guidelines, the procedure was authorized in the UK in 2015. It remains illegal in many other countries, though, including the US and France. Critics of it say it destroys embryos and could pave the way for so-called designer babies. Others say it creates a threeperson baby, one made by the mother, father, and donor. For many scientists, though, that is a misnomer. Personally, I think it’s nonsense to call them three parent babies. So, the mitochondrial DNA encodes genes which are relevant for making energy production. They’re not in giving any particular trait. So nothing that we recognize in when we’re looking at an individual, interacting with an individual, we don’t see anything to do with their mitochondrial genes. It’s all about their nuclear genes and who their parents were. For Lily’s mom, Liz, the trial’s success and the eight healthy children born thanks to this research are a lasting tribute to her daughter’s memory.

Eight babies have been born in the UK using genetic material from three people to prevent devastating and often fatal conditions, doctors say. Soulange Mougin has more.
#DNA #genetic #IVF

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