Debate about children created by three people

UK public health and bioethics experts are openly discussing the techniques of giving birth to a mother and two children to prevent the risk of mother-to-child transmission.

One in every 200 babies born has a disease related to mitochondrial disorder. Mitochondria are considered energy centers, providing energy for every cell in the body. Most patients have little or no symptoms, but in many cases the cells of the body are depleted, leading to muscle weakness, blindness, heart failure and even some deaths.

Mitochondria are transmitted from the mother's eggs to the baby and contain their own genes, while the father does not transmit the mitochondria to the child through sperm. The idea of ​​preventing diseases related to mitochondrial disorders is to provide more mitochondria of healthy women to transmit to the baby, Telegraph reported.

Children born to a mother and father will not
suffer from diseases related to mitochondrial disorders from mother.

Scientists have proven that the new method works effectively in the laboratory when scientists use donor embryos or eggs. According to this technique, the mother and donor eggs are fertilized by the father's sperm, forming two embryos. The immature nucleus of both embryos - the site of the genetic information - is removed, but only the immature nucleus of the embryo belongs to the retained parent. Subsequently, the nucleus belongs to parents who are inserted into the embryo of the donor. Finally, this pregnancy is implanted in the mother's uterus.

Thus, the baby is born with the genetic information of both parents and donors. This is a permanent genetic modification technique, which causes transgenic genes to pass through generations. It has great significance for society because this is the first time children are born from three people.

The moral question is: What do the babies born think when they grow up? Should they know the truth? What is the role of a donor woman?

This is not the first time such issues are discussed. The Nuffield Bioethics Council report said the method did not cause significant moral problems, but some experts say the technique is unnecessary, dangerous and precedents for creating Genetically modified children at will.

The discussion will last until December 7 this year and the results will be presented to British ministers early next year.

In the UK, research on techniques of childbirth from two mothers and one father is legal, but prohibition laws apply to people. If the technique is approved, it will take a few years to apply, because there are some issues around the safety of this method that need to be carefully assessed.

Professor Mary Herbert of Newcastle University in England, one of the pioneers of the new method, said experiments that assess the safety and effectiveness of new technology are still in progress, and it takes 3 - 5 years to complete.