A new IVF technique using DNA from 3 people has been deemed safe.
BBC News reports that scientists at Newcastle University came up with the concept to help women who are at risk of passing on serious genetic disorders have healthy children.
A new study, published in the journal
Nature, has deemed the procedure – for which the UK approved laws to permit – safe and found that it “will lead to normal pregnancies.”
The method, known as “early pronuclear transfer”, involves removing the parents’ key genetic material from an embryo, leaving behind faulty mitochondria.
This DNA is then transferred into a donor embryo (from a second woman) which has its nucleus removed.
While it was found that the process reduced the amount of faulty mitochondria being passed on without affecting embryo development, it was not found to be 100 per cent successful.
Professor Doug Turnbull, who co-authored the study, told the
BBC: "This study using normal human eggs is a major advance in our work towards preventing transmission of mitochondrial DNA disease."
He added: "Our studies on stem cells does express a cautionary note that it might not be 100 per cent efficient in preventing transmission, but for many women who carry these mutations the risk is far less than conceiving naturally."
