Spanish And Greek Doctors Create A Baby That Has DNA Of Three Different Persons

In a path breaking development, a team of Spanish and Greek doctors announced birth of baby with the help of DNAs from three people. This can be of a lot of help tackle infertility; however, the treatment has sparked an ethical debate.

The baby was conceived with the help an egg from the infertile mother, father¡¯s sperm and another woman¡¯s egg by transferring the genetic material with chromosomes from the mother¡¯s egg to the egg of the second woman while her own genetic material was removed in the process. It has been hailed as next big thing in the medical sciences.

shutterstock/Representational Image

This technique was used earlier in Mexico in 2016 when the DNA-switching technique to avoid transmission of a mother¡¯s hereditary to her child.

But this for the first time in Greece that an IVF (in vitro fertilisation) technique using DNA from three people. The baby was born on Thursday and weighed at 2.96 kilos. The mother of the child is a 32-year-old Greek woman who earlier had several unsuccessful attempts at IVF, Greece's Institute of Life said in a statement. The news agency AFP reported.

Institute of Life president Dr Panagiotis Psathas, stated: "Today, for the first time in the world, a woman's inalienable right to become a mother with her own genetic material became a reality.

gettyimages

"As Greek scientists, we are very proud to announce an international innovation in assisted reproduction, and we are now in a position to make it possible for women with multiple IVF failures or rare mitochondrial genetic diseases to have a healthy child."

Dr Psathas added: "Our commitment is to continue to help even more couples facing fertility issues to have children with their own DNA, without having recourse to egg donors."

Dr Nuno Costa-Borges, Dr Psathas¡¯ scientific collaborator of the Institute of Life also hailed the news.

"The completely successful and safe implementation of the Maternal Spindle Transfer method -¨C for the first time in medical history -¨C is a revolution in assisted reproduction," Dr Costa-Borges said. He added that "this exceptional result will help countless women to realise their dream of becoming mothers with their own genetic material."

The Mexican case was however different from the Greek as the mother, in that case, had been suffering from Leigh syndrome which is a rare illness which affects the developing nervous system and can be fatal to the child, The woman had lost two of her children due to this syndrome.

Though the use of the triple DNA technique raises some ethical issues. Tim Child, the professor at Oxford University and medical director of the Fertility Partnership expressed some concerns.

"I'm concerned that there's no proven need for the patient to have her genetic material removed from her eggs and transferred into the eggs of a donor.

"The risks of the technique aren't entirely known, though may be considered acceptable if being used to treat mitochondrial disease, but not in this situation," said Child.