The UK Parliament has voted in favor of permitting a form of IVF in which babies will receive DNA from two women and one man. According to the BBC, the technique will allow parents to stop genetic diseases from being passed to the child.
Proponents of the method have called it “progressive medicine,” but critics say that there are too many safety risks of the procedure, as well as ethical concerns.
Prime Minister David Cameron said, "We're not playing god here, we're just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one."
BBC reports that the procedure would be used by women such as Sharon Bernardi who lost seven babies to mitochondrial disease. Through the use of the controversial IVF method, the mother and father would use their DNA but add the healthy mitochondria of a donor woman. The result would mean that the baby shares 0.1 percent of his or her DNA with the donor.
The three-person IVF method still must be voted upon by the House of Lords. If passed, the first three-person baby could be born next year. After that, doctors believe about 150 three-person babies could be born each year.
Publication date: February 4, 2015
