UK MPs to vote on ‘3-parent’ babies

Britain could become the first country in the world to permit the creation of IVF babies with DNA from three different people.

British MPs on Tuesday will have a free vote at the end of the 90-minute debate on a controversial amendment to the 2008 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.

If they back the change, mitochondrial donation techniques aimed at preventing serious inherited diseases will be legalised.

The debate has divided opinion between experts and charities backing the treatments and opponents who say the move marks the start of a slippery slope towards "designer" babies.

Research has shown that mitochondrial donation could potentially help almost 2,500 women of reproductive age in the UK.

All are at risk of transmitting harmful DNA mutations in the mitochondria, tiny rod-liked power plants in cells, onto their children and future generations.

Mitochondrial donation would allow children - described by critics as "three parent babies" - to be conceived with genetic material from a three people.

As well as receiving normal "nuclear" DNA from its mother and father, a child would also have a minuscule amount of healthy mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) from a woman donor.

Mitochondrial diseases can be devastating, affecting major organs and causing symptoms ranging from poor vision to diabetes and muscle wasting.

International charities and campaigners have written an open letter to MPs urging them to vote for the change in the law, saying it "offers families the first glimmer of hope that they might be able to have a baby that will live without pain and suffering".

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UK MPs to vote on '3-parent' babies