Controversial technique could prevent the inheritance of genetic diseases
The Straits Times, 5 Feb 2015
The Straits Times, 5 Feb 2015
LONDON - Despite warnings that a new ethical threshold was being crossed, lawmakers have voted in favour of Britain becoming the first country in the world to allow a "three-parent" IVF technique that could prevent the inheritance of genetic diseases.
"We're not playing God here, we're just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one," said Prime Minister David Cameron, who supported the move, according to the BBC.
After an emotionally charged 90-minute debate on Tuesday that some lawmakers criticised as being too short for such a serious matter, Parliament voted 382 to 128 in favour of the technique, called mitochondrial donation.
Health Minister Jane Ellison argued in favour of legalising the procedure that will help women with mitochondrial diseases, describing it as "bold" but "considered and informed".
International charities, advocacy groups and scientists had urged Britain to pass laws to allow the treatment, saying it brought a "first glimmer of hope" to some families of having a baby who could live without suffering.
"We have finally reached a milestone in giving women an invaluable choice, the choice to become a mother without fear of passing on a lifetime under the shadow of mitochondrial disease to their child," Mr Robert Meadowcroft, chief executive of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, said following the vote.
If it wins final approval, as seems likely, the technique is expected to be used only sparingly, and in the cases of women with defective mitochondria, which can lead to brain damage, heart failure and muscular dystrophy.
The technique combines the nucleus DNA from the parents but mitochondrial DNA from a female donor.
The technique combines the nucleus DNA from the parents but mitochondrial DNA from a female donor.
Scientists say that the child would inherit the characteristics of the parents, other than the mitochondrial defect, rather than the donor's.
The issue provoked fierce debate, with critics fearing it would lead to the creation of genetically modified designer babies.
Conservative lawmaker Fiona Bruce said it would amount to letting "the genie out of the bottle".
"Where will it lead? The answer has to be that we stop here. The answer has to be that we say this is a red line in our country, as in every other country in the world, that we will not cross," she said during the debate.
Mr Edward Leigh, a Conservative lawmaker and former minister, said: "We should ask ourselves why no other state - not the European Union, not the US yet - thinks this process is absolutely safe."
Bishop John Sherrington of the Catholic Church in England and Wales said in a statement that there are "serious ethical objections to this procedure which involves the destruction of human embryos".
The Church of England argued that there should be "more time for consultation and research" while adding that the church did not want to prevent people "from benefiting from a major advance in genetics and assisted reproduction".
NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS
NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS
NOT PLAYING GOD
We're not playing God here, we're just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one.
- Prime Minister David Cameron, who supported the move
We're not playing God here, we're just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one.
- Prime Minister David Cameron, who supported the move
Key dates in embryonic research
1978: Louise Brown, the first baby conceived via in-vitro fertilisation, is born.
1989: First pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) used to screen embryos for cystic fibrosis.
1990s: PGD used to detect more than 250 inherited disorders, including sickle cell anaemia, Tay-Sachs disease and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
2000: First "saviour sibling" born, to donate healthy cells to a sibling with Fanconi anaemia.
2010: British scientists create a lab-dish embryo whose mitochondrial DNA comes from a donor.
The rest of its DNA comes from its biological parents.
2013: Birth of Connor, the first baby to be born after all its chromosomes were screened for abnormalities, so as to select the healthiest embryo for implantation.
2015: Vote in British Parliament on whether to approve embryos that have donated mitochondrial DNA.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE