‘3-Parent Baby’ Law Moves Forward In Britain

The U.K. could become the first country to legalize the production of a human embryo from three donors. Here, the freezing platform for an embryo, top, also known as a straw, is seen at an in vitro fertilization lab. Jim Stevens/MCT/Landov hide caption

The U.K. could become the first country to legalize the production of a human embryo from three donors. Here, the freezing platform for an embryo, top, also known as a straw, is seen at an in vitro fertilization lab.

Britain is on track to become the first country in the world to legalize a controversial procedure that uses DNA from three people to produce an embryo, as a way to cut out inherited DNA that can cause serious health problems in children.

The House of Commons voted to approve the Human Fertilization and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 after a contentious debate in which MP Fiona Bruce called for drawing a "red line" to prevent a practice that she said has not been sufficiently tested. Other opponents said legalizing the method could lead to a new era of modifying the human germline.

But backers of the measure disagreed, saying the debate was similar to one surrounding in vitro fertilization in the 1970s, when Britain announced the birth of the world's first human "test-tube baby." As in that case, the proponents said, the risks and potential benefits are to be undertaken only by the parents.

While the in vitro technique is often referred to by the shorthand "three-parent baby," the process uses the nuclear DNA from two parents and the mitochondrial DNA of a third donor.

The British bill would take effect on Oct. 29.

Update at 9:45 a.m. ET: House Of Commons Approves Measure

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From London, Larry Miller reports for NPR's Newscast unit:

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'3-Parent Baby' Law Moves Forward In Britain