{"id":87912,"date":"2015-02-03T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2015-02-03T09:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=87912"},"modified":"2015-02-03T10:17:38","modified_gmt":"2015-02-03T10:17:38","slug":"crucial-vote-three-person-babies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=87912","title":{"rendered":"Crucial vote on three-person babies"},"content":{"rendered":"

MPs will hold a crucial vote later to decide whether to allow the creation of babies using DNA from three people.<\/p>\n

They will have a free vote on the technique, which is aimed at preventing deadly genetic diseases being passed from mother to child.<\/p>\n

The UK could become the first country to legalise three-person babies and it could help about 150 couples a year.<\/p>\n

It has sparked fierce ethical debate and senior Church figures have called for the procedure to be blocked.<\/p>\n

However, if there is a “yes” vote in the Commons, then the first three-person baby could be born as soon as next year.<\/p>\n

The technique, which was developed in Newcastle, should help women like Sharon Bernardi, from Sunderland, who lost all seven of her children to mitochondrial disease.<\/p>\n

\"Sharon<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Sharon Bernardi and her son Edward, who died last year aged 21<\/div>\n

Mitochondria are the tiny compartments inside nearly every cell of the body that convert food into useable energy.<\/p>\n

Defective mitochondria, which are passed down only from the mother, lead to brain damage, muscle wasting, heart failure and blindness.<\/p>\n

The technique uses a modified version of IVF to combine the DNA of the two parents with the healthy mitochondria of a donor woman.<\/p>\n

It results in babies with 0.1% of their DNA from the second woman and is a permanent change that would be passed down through the generations.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Method<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
1) Two eggs are fertilised with sperm, creating an embryo from the intended parents and another from the donors<\/div>\n
2) The pronuclei, which contain genetic information, are removed from both embryos but only the parents’ are kept 3) A healthy embryo is created by adding the parents’ pronuclei to the donor embryo, which is finally implanted into the womb<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"line\"<\/div>\n

The government backs the measure in principle.<\/p>\n

However, MPs will be given a free vote, as it is an issue of conscience, rather than being forced down party lines.<\/p>\n

Prof Doug Turnbull, the director of the Wellcome Trust centre for mitochondrial research where the technique was pioneered, urged MPs to vote in favour.<\/p>\n

He told BBC News: “This is research that has been suggested by the patients, supported by patients and is for the patients, and that’s an important message.”<\/p>\n

That message was backed up by calls from British Nobel Prize-winning scientists and 40 leading scientists from 14 countries.<\/p>\n

But not everyone agrees.<\/p>\n

\"line\"<\/div>\n

What will happen?<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • There will be a 45-minute debate in the House of Commons, expected after 15:00 GMT<\/li>\n
  • This will be followed by the vote<\/li>\n
  • The House of Lords will also have to vote, although those close to the issue believe the Commons’ vote will be the crucial one<\/li>\n
  • If the procedure is given the go-ahead, the UK fertility regulator will be able to license fertility clinics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \"line\"<\/div>\n

    Last week the Catholic and Anglican Churches in England said the idea was not safe or ethical, not least because it involved the destruction of embryos.<\/p>\n

    Other groups, including Human Genetics Alert, say the move would open the door to further genetic modification of children in the future.<\/p>\n

    A review by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, as well as a public consultation by the fertility regulator, argued the creation of three-person babies was ethical.<\/p>\n

    Safety concerns<\/span><\/p>\n

    Three scientific reviews by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) suggest the technique is “not unsafe”.<\/p>\n

    Yet some scientists argue those reviews were flawed.<\/p>\n

    Dr Ted Morrow, from the University of Sussex, believes there are still uncertainties.<\/p>\n

    “I have some concerns about the safety, I’m really not happy that the reviews have been as exemplary as other people think they are.”<\/p>\n

    If politicians vote it through, then the HFEA is expected to give Newcastle a license to carry out the procedure.<\/p>\n

    The first attempt could take place this year, which could lead to the first birth in 2016<\/p>\n

    –<\/p>\n

    Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    MPs will hold a crucial vote later to decide whether to allow the creation of babies using DNA from three people. They will have a free vote on the technique, which is aimed at preventing deadly genetic diseases being passed from mother to child. The UK could become the first country to legalise three-person babies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-87912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-papa-owusu-ankomah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87912\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}