Government backs new IVF technique

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The government is planning to draft new regulations allowing three-person IVF that could see the procedure being made available to couples in the United Kingdom within two years. According to experts, the technique could eliminate the debilitating and sometimes fatal mitochondrial diseases that are passed from the mother to the child and could help up to 10 couples a year.

Mitochondria convert energy so that it can be used by cells and are passed, via the egg, from the mother to the baby. Defective mitochondria can leave cells starved of energy resulting in blindness, weak muscles, heart failure and even death in extreme cases. About one in 6,500 babies are affected by defective mitochondria.

Research indicates that mitochondria from a donor egg can prevent mitochondrial diseases. However, the technique would mean that babies end up with DNA from three people - both parents and a third donor - as mitochondria have their own DNA, and would inherit genetic information from three. They would have over 20,000 genes from their parents and 37 from the donor.

Newcastle University is pioneering one of the three-person IVF techniques. Professor DougTurnbull, a researcher at Newcastle, believes that the introducing the procedure is great news for those families affected by mitochondrial disease. It will give them more reproductive choice and the chance to have children who are free from the disease.

Following public consultation earlier this year, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority found that there was ‘general support’ for the new technique and there was no evidence to suggest that it was not safe. According to ProfessorSally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England, "Scientists have developed ground-breaking new procedures which could stop these disease being passed on, bringing hope to many families seeking to prevent their future children inheriting them. It's only right that we look to introduce this life-saving treatment as soon as we can." She acknowledges that there are sensitive issues involved but is personally comfortable with the proposal.

There have been objections to the proposed procedure from the outset, as it will have ramifications for generic inheritance. Dr. David King, Director of HumanGenetics Alert, says that it is unsafe and unnecessary and the majority of respondents in the consultation, in fact, rejected the proposal. He claims that the consultation was inadequate and biased and that it would be a disaster to base a decision that could eventually lead to a ‘eugenic designer baby market’ based on its findings.

Despite these concerns, draft regulations on the use of the treatment are to be produced this year, ready for a final version to be debated and voted upon in Parliament next year. As yet, the details have to be decided. It is likely that the procedure will be available only to those with the most severe cases and that those children born as a result of the procedure will not have the right to know the identity of the donor and will be subject to lifelong monitoring.

Introducing these regulations now, says Academy of Medical Sciences President Sir JohnTooke, means that there will be no unnecessary delay in offering the treatment to affected families once there is adequate proof that it is safe and effective. It will also keep the United Kingdom to the fore of cutting-edge research in the field.