"Three-Person IVF" Update Reveals How Little We Know
By Jessica Cussins,
The Huffington Post
| 06. 05. 2014
Three-person IVF is a critical departure from the traditional kind. This new and biologically extreme technique, which has generated scientific and bioethical controversy on both sides of the Atlantic, would combine genetic material from one man and two women in a single embryo. It is currently prohibited in the United Kingdom, but has been heavily promoted by its developers, and the law could be changed as soon as this year to allow it to move into fertility clinics.
The technique under consideration is being proposed for women with a rare form of mitochondrial disease who wish to have an unaffected and mostly genetically related child. It requires the extraction of the nucleus from her egg or embryo followed by its reinsertion into another woman's egg or embryo. Any resulting child would inherit nuclear DNA from the intended mother and mitochondrial DNA from an anonymous egg provider.
The UK's fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has just released an update on the safety and efficacy of this "three-person IVF." The HFEA report will help inform the upcoming Parliamentary...
Related Articles
By Rob Stein, NPR | 12.13.2024
Lucy Landman was born with a very rare genetic disorder that causes severe intellectual disability, weak muscles and seizures, among other symptoms.
"She is expected to very much never be able to live independently, likely never be potty trained...
By Sarojini Nadimpally and Gargi Mishra, The Wire | 12.15.2024
In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) as assisted reproductive technology (ART) has been in vogue for quite a few decades now. While IVF has been hailed as a significant scientific advancement, with many advantages, here are some limitations which bear keeping in mind...
By Staff, Reuters | 12.04.2024
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said on Wednesday it had entered into agreements with Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX.O), opens new tab and bluebird bio (BLUE.O), opens new tab to help increase patient access to their gene therapies.
The so-called...
Flag of South Africa; design by Frederick Brownell,
image by WikimediaCommons users.
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
What is the legal status of heritable human genome editing (HHGE)? In 2020, a comprehensive policy analysis by Baylis, Darnovsky, Hasson, and Krahn documented that more than 70 countries and an international treaty prohibit it, and that no country explicitly permits it. Policies in some countries were non-existent, ambiguous, or subject to possible amendment, but the general rule remained, even after one...
