Aggregated News

Remember the three-parent babies I told you about in December?  The ones made with genetic material from two different women?  Well, the United States might be moving a step closer to their creation.

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting on February 25 and 26 regarding clinical trials of mitochondrial transfer procedures (MT).  I’ve submitted a written statement and received FDA permission to present my arguments at the meeting. I’ll be there to oppose the use of such procedures because they would permanently change the genes passed down to future generations.

A quick reminder of what’s at stake.  The Advisory Committee will consider whether to allow human clinical trials of “oocyte modification in assisted reproduction for the prevention of the transmission of mitochondrial disease or treatment of infertility.” That’s a long way of referring to a form of genetic modification that would alter an embryo’s genetic structure in such a way that the changes would be passed down to all future generations of the same line.

To accomplish this sci-fi sounding task, scientists would...