On February 3, 2015 the UK passed the law allowing for three person babies. This allows mitochondrial DNA modification.The mitochondria in our cells carries a lot of DNA with important information but many women have fatal diseases within their mitochondria, which can lead to death of their children.
The new law will allows doctors to replace the nucleus from a healthy donor egg with the nucleus in the unhealthy fertilized egg. This will create an embryo from three people. The Picture below describes the process in more detail.
I find this article very interesting. I think this process is a huge leap in science and technology and will help so many families in the future. I believe that this is a great way for mothers with mitochondrial diseases to still be able to carry and have their own baby. In the UK about 2,500 mothers could have children who are unhealthy due to the mitochondrial diseases. I believe that this could help so many people and is an important discovery.
I go to a catholic school where a topic like this would be very controversial. The catholic church does not belief in IVF to become pregnant. They teach that having a child should happen the natural way. Personally, I do not agree with this. I believe that every woman should have the right to carry her own child and this gives more woman a chance to experience motherhood. I think that using a donor cell is completely ethical and helpful. I hope that this law will grow to more place than the UK because this could really change the face of IVF and pregnancy for many families.
Clink here for more information on the new law!
Photo creds:
Shauna O'Donoghue 