“MPs Say Yes to Three Person Babies”

My cocktail chatter is about how MPs in the UK have decided to create a law allowing three people to produce babies. The purpose of this seemingly odd idea is to eliminate genetic diseases from being passed down from mother to child, and so on. This technique was referred to as the “light at the end of a dark tunnel” for many families. There are currently two different methods that can be performed in order to prevent the spread of these genetic diseases. The first method involves repairing an embryo that has unhealthy mitochondria, while the second involves repairing a mother’s egg that has been tainted with these unhealthy mitochondria. Both involve the replacing of the donor mother’s nucleus in either her embryo or egg, with the mother’s nucleus, while keeping the healthy mitochondria of the donor. Essentially the donor mother is providing either the embryo or egg along with healthy mitochondria, and the real mother’s nucleus is being placed inside. The exact means by which this process is done is not mentioned however. Although the ethics behind this idea is still being debated and contested, it was approved in the UK. I really enjoyed reading these articles because this idea is not one I would have ever thought to be possible. The article I read was published by BBC and additional information can be found at USA Today and CNN.