A Former IVF Baby on "Three-Parent IVF"

I have my parents, and biotechnology, to thank for bringing me into this world; I was an IVF baby. Given this intimate connection with technology and test tubes, you might think I'd be a cheerleader for all developments in the field. But a new technique under consideration has broad and troubling implications, not only for hopeful parents-to-be and their potential future children, but for all of humanity.

This new technique, called mitochondrial replacement or "three-parent IVF," would make genetic changes to IVF embryos and thus to every cell of the children born as a result of it. And these changes would be passed down to future generations. Human inheritable genetic modification of this kind is currently prohibited in over 40 countries and by several international agreements due to numerous problems and concerns. But proposals that would break this long-respected international consensus are now under consideration in the United Kingdom and the United States.

The UK has been toying with the idea for some time and may soon change its law to allow clinical trials. Several US researchers also want...