New Technology Can Make It So 1 Baby Has 3 Parents
By CBS,
CBS New York [Quotes CGS's Marcy Darnovsky]
| 03. 29. 2013
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — New technology could bring babies into the world with three biological parents. The procedure is close to being legalized in the United Kingdom, and is aimed at preventing a genetic disorder.
But some people argue that more attention needs to be paid to the ethics behind the process.
Doctors at Pacific Fertility Center recently told CBS 2 Kristine Johnson that they are now able to use technology to screen and select embryos that are free of genetic diseases.
“The goal is always the same: identify embryos that are unaffected, and are going to produce normal children and only transfer those back,” explained Dr. Rusty Herbert.
Now, in Britain, technology is about to take a huge leap, and create babies using the DNA from three different people in an effort to prevent mitochondrial disorders.
Mitochondria is the main power generator inside of human cells. If it is defective, mothers could pass on devastating diseases to their children.
A three-person biological baby involves two fertilized eggs.
An egg is taken from a woman with mitochondrial problem and a...
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