'3-parent' fertility treatments given ethical approval
Source: Agencies |
June 13, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
"THREE-PARENT" fertility treatments designed to prevent some incurable inherited diseases would be ethical and should go ahead as long as research shows they are likely to be safe and effective, a British medical ethics panel said yesterday.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics said the treatments - which have become known as three-parent in-vitro fertilization (IVF) because the offspring have genes from a mother, father and female donor - should be offered to affected families together with full information and expert support.
"If these treatments are successful, these children would be among the first in the world to have a genetic connection to not two people, but three people," said Geoff Watts, who chaired a Nuffield inquiry into the issue. "There are a number of ethical questions that arise."
Around one in 6,500 children worldwide are born with serious diseases caused by faulty mitochondrial DNA. Britain is widely considered to be at the forefront of research in this area, so ethical considerations and scientific advances here are likely to be closely watched around the world.
The new potential treatments involve intervening in the fertilization process to remove faulty mitochondrial DNA, which can lead to a range of inherited conditions including fatal heart problems, liver failure, brain disorders, blindness and muscular weakness.
Still at the research stage, the treatments replace mitochondria, which act as tiny energy-generating batteries inside cells, so a baby does not inherit faults from its mother. Mitochondria are passed only through the maternal line.
"If further research shows these techniques to be sufficiently safe and effective, we think it would be ethical for families to use them ... provided they receive an appropriate level of information and support," said Watts.
He said the new treatments could offer significant health and social benefits to affected families, allowing them to live "free from what can be very severe and debilitating disorders," and to have children without needing to adopt.
"This is a way in which parents can have children who are genetically related to them," Watts said.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics said the treatments - which have become known as three-parent in-vitro fertilization (IVF) because the offspring have genes from a mother, father and female donor - should be offered to affected families together with full information and expert support.
"If these treatments are successful, these children would be among the first in the world to have a genetic connection to not two people, but three people," said Geoff Watts, who chaired a Nuffield inquiry into the issue. "There are a number of ethical questions that arise."
Around one in 6,500 children worldwide are born with serious diseases caused by faulty mitochondrial DNA. Britain is widely considered to be at the forefront of research in this area, so ethical considerations and scientific advances here are likely to be closely watched around the world.
The new potential treatments involve intervening in the fertilization process to remove faulty mitochondrial DNA, which can lead to a range of inherited conditions including fatal heart problems, liver failure, brain disorders, blindness and muscular weakness.
Still at the research stage, the treatments replace mitochondria, which act as tiny energy-generating batteries inside cells, so a baby does not inherit faults from its mother. Mitochondria are passed only through the maternal line.
"If further research shows these techniques to be sufficiently safe and effective, we think it would be ethical for families to use them ... provided they receive an appropriate level of information and support," said Watts.
He said the new treatments could offer significant health and social benefits to affected families, allowing them to live "free from what can be very severe and debilitating disorders," and to have children without needing to adopt.
"This is a way in which parents can have children who are genetically related to them," Watts said.
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