Britain nears approval of technique that combines DNA of 3 people
c.2015 New York Times News Service
LONDON – Despite warnings that a new ethical threshold was being crossed, British lawmakers on Tuesday voted to allow the in vitro creation of babies using the DNA of three people, a procedure that could prevent the inheritance of genetic diseases.
The move would make Britain the first country to authorize an in vitro fertilization technique that involves altering a human egg or embryo before transferring it to the womb.
The issue provoked fierce debate, with some opponents likening the procedure to genetic modification and arguing that it would open the way to the creation of so-called designer babies.
Lawmakers in the House of Commons voted 382-128 in favor of the move, which still requires final approval from the House of Lords, the unelected upper chamber of Parliament. The House of Lords rarely rejects the decisions of elected colleagues.
The vote came after a number of objections were raised, including the fact that other nations, including the United States, have not taken such a step.
Describing the move as “bold” but “considered and informed,” the health minister, Jane Ellison, argued in favor of legalizing the procedure, which is designed to help women with mitochondrial diseases. Defects in the mitochondria – energy-producing structures outside a cell’s nucleus – can result in a range of complications, including muscular dystrophy and heart, kidney and liver failure.
An opponent of the change, Edward Leigh, a Conservative lawmaker and former minister, said before the vote that it represented a “monumental decision.”
“If we believe that, sadly, given the nature of the human condition, there are these appalling diseases, where do we stop?” he asked, adding that there should be full clinical trials to determine the procedure’s safety and effectiveness.
If it wins final approval, as seems likely, the technique is expected to be used only sparingly, and in the cases of women who have faulty mitochondria. The resulting embryo would have nucleus DNA from the child’s parents but mitochondrial DNA from a donor.
Tuesday’s vote was welcomed by Robert Meadowcroft, chief executive of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, who described it in a statement as a “milestone in giving women an invaluable choice, the choice to become a mother without fear of passing on a lifetime under the shadow of mitochondrial disease to their child.”
Some groups opposed to the procedure, including Human Genetics Alert, had likened it to genetic modification.