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The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is to debate its policy on creating babies who can help sick siblings.
It will consider a doctor's request to select an embryo for a Northern Ireland couple that is a blood match with their son, who has a rare blood disorder.
Currently embryos can only be screened for serious genetic disorders.
Dr Mohamed Taranissi, the director of London's Assisted Reproduction Gynaecology Centre, is pursuing a rule change in a bid to help two-year-old Joshua Fletcher, from Moira, County Down.
Joshua has a potentially fatal blood disorder called Diamond Blackfan anaemia (DBA), which can be treated by using stem cells to stimulate his body to produce healthy red blood cells.
| We only want to give our son the best chance for a cure for a condition which could take his life Joe Fletcher Father of baby Joshua |
Neither his parents, Joe and Julie, nor his five-year-old brother Adam are close enough matches to give him the stem cells he needs.
But IVF technology...