Scientists given go-ahead for 'dual mother' embryo

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David_Paul

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ABC (au)
09/09/05

A team of scientists in Britain have been granted official approval to create a human embryo using genetic material from two women, raising the future prospect of babies with a pair of mothers.

The group from Newcastle University in Britain has been given the green light by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the Government-appointed genetics and reproductive technology watchdogs for Britain, where such science is tightly regulated.

The scientists will transfer the pro-nuclei - the components of a human embryo nucleus - made by one man and woman into an unfertilised egg from another woman.

This technique is intended to help prevent mothers from passing on so-called mitochondrial diseases on to their unborn babies, genetic conditions caused by DNA outside the nucleus of a cell, in the mitochondria.

Mitochondria have their own DNA, inherited from the mother only.

If this DNA is faulty, then children can develop diseases affecting cells in the brain, heart, liver, kidney or skeletal muscles, for which there is currently no known cure.

Previous studies in mice showed in was possible to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial disease by moving the nucleus from an egg containing bad mitochondrial DNA to an unaffected egg.

Controversial research

The human trial will not see any eggs allowed to develop into babies, but the research nonetheless remains controversial.

Professor John Burn from Newcastle University stressed that the new tests would not lead to “designer babies”.

“From a philosophical or medical point of view there is no reason why we should not do this,” he said . . . .

continued here:
abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200509/s1456471.htm
 
I wonder when these folks decided they could do better than God.
 
I hope that isn’t their attitude, but that they come from a place of wanting to help humanity by curing some diseases. But still, this sounds too much like a frankenstein kind of thing!
 
The human trial will not see any eggs allowed to develop into babies, but the research nonetheless remains controversial.
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The way I see it, this ought to make it more controversial, not less. Not only are they playing God, they are killing human beings.
 
Mom of one:
I hope that isn’t their attitude, but that they come from a place of wanting to help humanity by curing some diseases. But still, this sounds too much like a frankenstein kind of thing!
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More like Frankenbaby. There is more here that meets the eye. Yes they are playing God as stated in other posts here, but are there another more radical agendas being played out here. I have some ideas, but it is useless to speculate without proof.

PF
 
Lizzie…this from a country which one can argue is still civilized. Imagine what other places are doing in the lab.
 
Just when you think things can’t get worse - they do. And they will get even worse. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) was set up something like 10 years ago with clear guidelines as to what was permissable and what was not. But there is a review underway and the inevitable calls that the legislation is “out of date” and needs to be “modernised” - i.e. liberalised, as if it didn’t allow enough already.
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