Babies made from three people approved in UK

[nitpicker]

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-38328097

Babies made from three people approved in UK

By James Gallagher
Health and science reporter, BBC News website

51 minutes ago

From the section Health

Babies made from two women and one man have been approved by the UK's fertility regulator. The historic and controversial move is to prevent children being born with deadly genetic diseases. Doctors in Newcastle - who developed the advanced form of IVF - are expected to be the first to offer the procedure and have already appealed for donor eggs. The first such child could be born, at the earliest, by the end of 2017.

Some families have lost multiple children to incurable mitochondrial diseases, which can leave people with insufficient energy to keep their heart beating. The diseases are passed down from only the mother so a technique using a donor egg as well as the mother's egg and father's sperm has been developed. The resulting child has a tiny amount of their DNA from the donor, but the procedure is legal, ethical and scientifically ready.
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The HFEA must approve every clinic and every patient before the procedure can take place. Three-person babies have been allowed only in cases where the risk of a child developing mitochondrial disease is very high. Clinics can now apply to the HFEA for a licence to conduct three-person IVF.

The team at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University is expected to be the first to be granted a licence. It aims to help 25 couples every year.
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