Race for the ‘Three-person Baby’ Faces a Dangerous Path

Scientists and ethicists expressed their concern over a risky experiment in making newborns out of three-person DNA’s composition. They claim the medical procedure is deceiving expectant parents from the dangerous future outcome.

Developing the Three-Person Baby

The United Kingdom spearheaded the procedure of an advanced form of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) at the Newcastle University. The ‘three-person baby’ medical procedure aims to prevent mortality caused by defective mitochondria. The researchers completed the final stages of safety checks for clinical testing in June.

Correspondingly, UK is the first country to initiate laws which allow the conception of babies from three different people. Although its primary purpose is to prevent illness, Ukraine uses the medical procedure as the unproven fertility treatment. However, the first successful medical procedure for the three-person baby was born in Mexico. Both countries observed lenient policy over fertility treatment than the UK.

However, the first successful medical procedure for the three-person baby was born in Mexico. Both countries observed lenient policy over fertility treatment than the UK.

Mitochondria defect illness caused fatalities in children; the three-person IVF procedure eliminates the chance of having the disease. Mitochondria generates chemical energy which converts usable energy for the body, it can only pass on thru in the mother’s egg.
The three-person IVF extracts DNA from biological parents and inserts it in the donor’s egg. The subsequent offspring has 0.1% DNA from the donor.

Race to the bottom

The fertility treatment used in Mexico sparked intense criticisms worldwide. Dr. Marcy Darnovsky from the US Centre for Genetics and Society said, “We appear to be in a race to the bottom. They are ignoring ongoing policy debates and conducting dangerous and socially fraught experiments on mothers and children. And they appear to be actively seeking a media splash on the way down.”

She added on the use of the procedure for infertility treatment, “Use of these biologically extreme procedures for infertility is based purely on speculation.”

Insufficient, old mitochondria or chemical imbalance influences embryo development. Scientists argue that the three-person medical procedure can overcome these infertility factors that caused “poor” environment inside the egg.

Uncontrollable

According to Dr. Dusko Ilic, a medical practitioner from King’s College London said: “there was no way to stop IVF clinics offering the procedure”.

The UK was the first country to create laws and regulations for the three-person IVF. Nevertheless, other countries offer “little to no regulation” policy.

Dr. Ilic also added, “IVF clinics are jumping on the bandwagon and rushing ahead, whereas the Newcastle team did all the hard due diligence work.”

The doctor is very much concerned for the safety of the patients. He said, “The major worry is how technically skillful these clinics are, what quality control measures are in place and what information they provide to desperate patients seeking help”.

No confidentiality clause in overseas facilities

He cited the ‘Mexico birth’ wherein the details of the parents and a picture of the newborn baby were made public without any consent. Such disclosure is considered a criminal offense under the UK laws for the three-person baby policy.

“One example of the way UK regulation protects patients is through the confidentiality which attaches to their identity, the details of their treatment, and their children”, said James Lawford Davies, an associate at the Hempsons law firm.

When the UK developed the procedure on the three-person baby, they aimed to prevent inherited mitochondrial illness. The procedure does not entail treatment for infertility.

A professor from the Francis Crick Institute, Prof. Robin Lovell-Badge said, “There was little evidence at the time the law was being changed that the methods were likely to help infertility”.

The application of this medical procedure should only be for mitochondrial disease treatment. Using it as an un-tested form of conception could be dangerous.

The UK’s medical reputation is perceived to be respectable in considering “deeply into the issues of science and safety”. It would be possible to use the three-person baby procedure for infertility in the future if tested to be safe.

Prof Lovell-Badge said, “We can’t control this in countries where there are few or no regulations and poor oversight. Unfortunately, the clinics in such countries became used to unregulated operation. It is the patients who are at risk of being duped into paying for methods that have little or no benefit or that are even harmful.”

The Progress Educational Trust Director, Sarah Norcross stated that fertility clinics had a reputation for “rushing” new techniques for their infertility patients.

Huge temptation to get overseas treatment

She believed that “For British women who wish to avoid passing Mitochondrial disease to their children, the temptation to travel overseas to access these treatments must be enormous.”

Director Norcross warned infertility patients to be cautious because such unproven treatment can be fatal for the newborn. This subject matter, along with patient confidentiality issues surrounding the three-person baby intensifies the medical community concerns.

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