The unnamed child from Greece was produced when doctors took genetic information from three individuals, two women and a man, and inserted the fertilised egg into the mother’s womb. The technique was developed to help infertile couples have children. In this instance, scientists in Barcelona took an egg from the mother, sperm from the father and another egg from another woman donor.
The doctors used the donor egg to swap the mother’s defective mitochondrial DNA in the infertile egg.
Using IVF, scientists then placed the fertilised egg into the mother’s womb.
Doctors have stated the majority of the DNA will come from the parents, and just a tiny fraction will come from the donor.
Dr Panagiotis Psathas, president of the Institute of Life in Athens, said: “A woman’s inalienable right to become a mother with her own genetic material became a reality.
vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.
The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.
“We are very proud to announce an international innovation in assisted reproduction, and we are now in a position to make it possible for women with multiple IVF failures or rare mitochondrial genetic diseases to have a healthy child.”
However, some are warning it is a step too far and we are moving towards a culture of designer babies.
Tim Child, Associate Professor at the University of Oxford, said: “I’m concerned that there’s no proven need for the patient to have her genetic material removed from her eggs and transferred into the eggs of a donor.
“The patient does not have an inherited disorder that is being treated by spindle transfer, unlike women with inherited mitochondrial disease.
“The risks of the technique aren’t entirely known, though may be considered acceptable if being used to treat mitochondrial disease, but not in this situation.
“The patient may have conceived even if a further standard IVF cycle had been used. Without a proper well designed study, with the use of controls, it is not possible to say whether this technique has benefitted the patient.”