According to the fertility commission, the first baby containing DNA from three people was born in the UK following a particular IVF technique.
According to sources, as of April 20 this year, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) verified “less than five” babies were born in the UK following mitochondrial donation treatment (MDT).
The HFEA did not provide additional information to avoid identifying families, according to the Guardian, who obtained the information through a freedom of information request.
The treatment’s goal is to keep women from passing on damaged genes in the mitochondria, which are small rod-like power plants in cells that generate energy, and to keep infants from inheriting diseases.
The procedure entails implanting a woman with an IVF kid that has DNA from three different people.
The infant will inherit nuclear DNA from both parents, which will determine critical features such as personality and eye colour.
It will also have a trace quantity of mitochondrial DNA from a female donor – the third “parent.”
When the HFEA gave the operation a cautious green light in 2017, Britain became the first country in the world to explicitly authorise mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT).
The HFEA granted clearance to fertility physicians at the Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life to perform MRT on two women in 2018.
MPs and peers prepared the ground for the move in 2015 when they voted to amend the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, which establishes the legal framework for fertility research and treatment.
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