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Posted on 09/09/2005 6:05:10 AM PDT by NYer
BRITISH scientists have been given permission to create human embryos that will have three genetic parents.
The fertility watchdog cleared a team at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne yesterday to conduct an experiment to prevent genetic disease by merging single-cell embryos with donated eggs.
The decision to approve the procedure on appeal, after two previous applications were rejected, is controversial because it could eventually lead to the birth of children who carry genes from two mothers and a father.
It also opens the possibility of “germ-line” genetic engineering, because any children born would carry added genes that would be passed to successive generations.
At present, gene therapy to alter defective DNA is permitted only when such changes would not be passed on.
The licence awarded yesterday by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) allows only experimental use of the technique and not the implantation into a womb of any resultant embryo.
The Newcastle team does not envisage applying for permission to conduct such procedures for reproductive purposes until several years of research have shown it to be effective and safe, though the ultimate goal is to employ it to create healthy children.
Some observers said the HFEA had overstepped its remit when the Government has begun a review of embryology legislation. A legal challenge is likely because the appeal turned on reinterpreting a ban on altering the genetic structure of a cell.
The researchers, led by Professor Doug Turnbull and Mary Herbert, want to prevent inherited diseases caused by mutations in the DNA in cell structures called mitochondria, which provide a cell’s energy.
About one in 5,000 people carry defects in the mitochondrial DNA. Most lead only to mild effects, but in rare cases defects can cause miscarriage, or fatal brain, liver and kidney damage in offspring. One patient the team hopes to help has had five miscarriages, and eventually gave birth to a child with profound brain damage.
Mitochondria are inherited from the mother. The team plans to replace defective mitochondria in eggs with working ones from donor eggs.
First, an egg from a woman carrying mitochondrial defects will be fertilised in vitro using her partner’s sperm. At the point of fertilisation, two “pronuclei” containing genetic material from the mother and father will be removed, and injected into an unfertilised egg from which the nucleus has been removed.
This donated egg will contain healthy mitochondria, but none of the nuclear DNA that makes up most of the human genetic code.
But mitochondria contain 37 genes, so the embryo will have been created with a genetic contribution from three individuals — the father, the mother who provided the nucleus, and the donor who provided the mitochondria.
If the embryo grows into an adult woman, she would pass on the donated mitochondria to any children of her own, raising concerns about germ-line genetic manipulation.
The procedure is not cloning, as the embryo that develops as a result will have a full complement of genes in its nucleus from a mother and a father. Clones created by nuclear transfer are genetically identical to the adult from which they are cloned, with the exception of their mitochondrial DNA.
Professor Turnbull initially applied to the HFEA for approval for these experiments last year, but was refused twice by its licence committee.
The watchdog was concerned because it is not allowed to approve changes to the genetic structure of an embryo.
The HFEA has now decided that this does not exclude changes to an embryo’s mitochondrial DNA, but prevents only alterations of the nuclear DNA, which contains most functional genes.
A spokesman for the authority said that after taking expert scientific advice, its appeal committee had been satisfied that the research was permissible under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, and that the experiment was “necessary and desirable” to investigate prevention of a serious disease. Professor John Burn, who heads the Newcastle Institute of Clinical Genetics where the work will be performed, said: “I am confident, after debating at length with the team, that this is within both the letter and the spirit of the law.
“It is a debateable issue and I do not want in any sense to diminish its significance, but mitochondria are not part of the genetic material that we consider in a sense makes us as human beings. All their genes do is make mitochondria, and many, many people share the same mitochondrial genomes.
“My belief is that what we are doing is changing a battery that doesn’t work for one that does. The analogy is with a camera: changing the battery won’t affect what’s on the film, and changing the mitochondria won’t affect the important DNA.”
Josephine Quintavalle, of the pressure group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said that the ruling set a dangerous precedent. “This shows once again that the HFEA does not have any regard for public consultation and the views of the public,” she said.
Hussein Mehmet, of Imperial College, London, said that the authority had criticised similar research abroad. “The licence awarded by the HFEA appears to contradict their own point of view,” he said.
“Similar experiments carried out by an American group were frowned upon by the HFEA, although it should be stressed that those experiments were aimed at curing infertility while this research will focus on a special group of muscle diseases called mitochondrial myopathies.
“Nevertheless, I find it rather paradoxical that the HFEA will have awarded a licence for research whose clinical application, which will alter the germ line of the baby, is by their own definition unethical.”
Peter Braude, an embryologist at King’s College London, said: “I am delighted to hear that this important work will be pursued in the UK, and that the HFEA have had the wisdom to license it.
“Performing the research using donated eggs will help understand whether the process is achievable and safe. They are responsibly doing the needed experiments on cleaving embryos in vitro first, before trying it out on patients. If it works and is safe it will be the answer to the prayers of those inflicted with these awful mitochondrial genetic disorders, for which there is no treatment.”
Andy Miah, a medical ethicist at Paisley University, said: “Many of the more controversial ethical concerns arise only if we project into the future and imagine that a child were to be born, as a result of this kind of procedure.
“Indeed, it is useful to consider this difficult case, even though we are still not yet there. So, even if a child were born with ‘two mothers’, I doubt very much that we should be concerned about its welfare any more than we are concerned about the welfare of all children.
“For those who would see this as a threat to the family unit, we should endeavour to persuade them that reproductive technologies could encourage a greater acceptance of diversity in our society.”
Virginia Bolton, a consultant clinical embryologist at Guy’s Hospital in London, said: “This is yet another example of the value of human embryo research to establish the safety of a technique before it is introduced into clinical practice.”
David Harrison, of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, which is funding the research by the team in Newcastle, said: “The innovative approach being tested by Professor Turnbull may lead to a treatment for mitochondrial myopathies, a group of conditions that dramatically affect quality and length of life.”
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Ummm.. What "moral evil" would result from this?
What's the "news" part of this story?
Frankenstein medicine. What if they create something we cannot get rid of?
Will they repent to the baby and take care of it? Or will they dump it in the toilet if deformed?
Repent to the god-scientists and their evil designs of power...not
"The researchers, led by Professor Doug Turnbull and Mary Herbert, want to prevent inherited diseases caused by mutations in the DNA in cell structures called mitochondria, which provide a cell’s energy.
"About one in 5,000 people carry defects in the mitochondrial DNA. Most lead only to mild effects, but in rare cases defects can cause miscarriage, or fatal brain, liver and kidney damage in offspring."
Wow. Good for them.
They do this, but scream bloody murder at biogenetically altered corn and rice that could feed millions.
Andy Miah, a medical ethicist at Paisley University, said: “Many of the more controversial ethical concerns arise only if we project into the future and imagine that a child were to be born, as a result of this kind of procedure. ISNT THAT THE POINT???
“Indeed, it is useful to consider this difficult case, even though we are still not yet there. So, even if a child were born with ‘two mothers’, I doubt very much that we should be concerned about its welfare any more than we are concerned about the welfare of all children. WHAT DOES HE CARE FOR THE ONES THEY CREATE AND DESTROY?
“For those who would see this as a threat to the family unit, we should endeavour to persuade them that reproductive technologies could encourage a greater acceptance of diversity in our society.” WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?
Virginia Bolton, a consultant clinical embryologist at Guy’s Hospital in London, said: “This is yet another example of the value of human embryo research to establish the safety of a technique before it is introduced into clinical practice.” I'M SURE DR. MENGELE USED THE WORD "VALUE" TO DESCRIBE HOW HE FELT ABOUT HIS VICTIMS, TOO!
David Harrison, of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, which is funding the research by the team in Newcastle, said: “The innovative approach being tested by Professor Turnbull may lead to a treatment for mitochondrial myopathies, a group of conditions that dramatically affect quality and length of life.” EXCEPT FOR THE LIVES OF THE EMBRYOS HE CREATES AND KILLS.
Gee, wouldn't it be awful if a horrible genetic defect was no longer passed down through generations of a family!
I can just hear the kid now: It ruined my life to have a little mitochondrial DNA from a donor. I would much prefer to have profound brain damage or never to have been born!
< /sarc>
And how would that be worse than the horrible defects we already have, that we can't rid of without this type of treatment>?
"It also opens the possibility of “germ-line” genetic engineering, because any children born would carry added genes that would be passed to successive generations."
Yeah, that's the freaky part here (in addition to the "Heather has Two Mommies -- No, Really She Does!")
I was also reading the description of the first prequel novel to the "Left Behind" series entitled "The Rising." Turns out that the antichrist has two genetic fathers in the story. Now, I realize that it is just a story, but it is interesting that something similar is actually going on.
Genetic research, if used morally, is a lifesaver and a very good thing indeed. It's how we use it that matters.
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