In Great Britain, babies have been born for the first time with the genetic material of three people. These are not the first cases worldwide: there were reports from Mexico in 2016 and from Greece in 2019. It must still be a small number.
The babies were created by artificial insemination. The technique of mitochondrial replacement therapy is used to prevent damage in children that could result from hereditary defects in the mother’s so-called mitochondrial DNA. Specialists remove the nucleus from a fertilized egg from the mother and insert it into an egg from another woman who had previously had the nucleus removed. The mitochondria still have to be added, ie cell powerhouses that also have genetic material.
99.8 percent from mother and father
However, the genome of the egg donor is limited to a very small number of genes in the child. 99.8 percent of the genome still comes from the mother and father. The program was run in the UK by the Newcastle Fertility Centre, according to a report by the Guardian newspaper. The employees did not want to comment on the births because of the personal rights of those affected.
In 2016 there were already similar cases in Mexico, three years later in Greece. The goal is to prevent mitochondrial gene damage. One in 6,000 newborns is affected.
Source: Krone
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