Scientist Who Pioneered 'Three-Parent' IVF Embryo Technique Now Wants to Offer it to Older Women Trying For a Baby

The US scientist who pioneered the technique of mitochondrial transfer has applied for permission to use it as a fertility treatment for women who, because of their age, have difficulty becoming pregnant naturally or by conventional IVF. 

Dr Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a world authority on embryo manipulation, said he had requested permission from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct trials of mitochondrial transfer as a treatment for age-related infertility. He said the parliamentary vote last Tuesday, when MPs overwhelmingly approved the “three-parent” baby technique for creating IVF babies free of mitochondrial disease, has bolstered his case with the US regulator.

“We hope it will help in the US, and hopefully the FDA will move faster. The families have heard about the UK outcome and they welcome it. We’re very excited by it,” said Dr Mitalipov, senior scientist at...