Members of the general public are being asked if they think that families who have a genetic risk of incurable conditions such as muscular dystrophy should be permitted to create healthy children by the use of third party DNA. Only a tiny amount of DNA in the resulting babies would be inherited from the donor but the procedure would save generations to come from many debilitating conditions.
This technique is currently not allowed to be used as a treatment however the recently launched public consultation will enable the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to decide whether the benefits outweigh ethical concerns. The technique, which has been accepted by the experts, involves modifying a human embryo or egg genetically which raises ethical questions.
Questions about the procedure do not end with the moral implications but also ask if the procedure will impact on the child’s identity and should they be able to contact the donor when they are older. It is estimated that one in 200 of the children born each year in Britain have a type of mitrochondrial disease, with defects up to 90% of their mitrochondria.
In the majority of cases if number of defects is minimal no symptoms are found and the condition never diagnosed. However in approximately 6,500 people the damage can cause severe conditions such as muscular dystrophy and ataxia, a neurological condition which affects balance, coordination and speech.
Approximately 99.8% of our DNA is contained in a cell nucleus, including visible characteristics. These are passed down in equal measure from our biological parents. However there is a small fraction of 37 genes which is located in our mitrochondria, which is inherited from our mother. This new technique which is being developed at Newcastle University hopes to tackle the conditions passed by mothers through gene mutation.
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