UK moves to three parent treatment
Friday January 20th, 2012
British researchers are hoping to develop a potentially controversial "three parent" treatment to eliminate a range of genetic diseases, it was announced yesterday.
The British government also launched a public consultation into the technique - seeking to get rapid views as to whether it will be acceptable.
Newcastle scientists are aiming to use techniques developed during cloning research to separate the mitochondria of human eggs from the fertilised nucleus. Mitochondrial DNA is known as the "battery" of cells.
The aim is to eliminate mitochondrial disease - which affects about one in every 5,000 adults. In its worst form it leads to the death of babies soon after birth and its forms include muscular dystrophy.
The new technique would allow couples to have babies born with DNA from the mother and father. But the mitochondria would be provided by a healthy donor.
The Wellcome Trust yesterday committed some £4.4 million to Newcastle University to develop the technique.
And university researchers appealed to women from the north-east of England to come forward as donors. Already 500 donors have contributed eggs for early research.
Under new rules, now women can receive an increased level of expenses for donating.
Professor Alison Murdoch, head of Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life said: “Many women have expressed an interest in helping because they have family or friends who have been affected by a mitochondrial disorder or because they are interested in helping the research.
"Until now we have not been able to recruit non-patient donors but that has now changed."
Health minister Anne Milton said: “Mitochondrial disease, such as muscular dystrophy, can have a devastating impact on the people who inherit it. People who have it live with debilitating illness, and women who are affected face passing it on to their children.
“Scientists have developed a new procedure to do research to stop these diseases being passed on. But such a procedure would not be allowed in treatment under current law, so we are consulting the public as to whether we should change the law.”
Tags: Childbirth and Pregnancy | Genetics | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology
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