Posted on 08/27/2009 4:39:31 PM PDT by wagglebee
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The latest news from the world of genetic manipulation comes from scientists who are conducting research on monkeys that they say could lead to the birth of a human being with three parents in order to eliminate the possibility of inheriting and genes that could cause certain diseases or conditions.
Genetic engineering has long caused problems for pro-life advocates and bioethicists because of the manipulation involved and research that destroys human life in order to create a so-called perfect human race.
It also leads, they say, to a society which devalues the disabled and the physically and mentally disabled.
Despite the concerns, Shoukhrat Mitalipov, of the Oregon National Primate Research Centre, has moved forward with experiments in monkeys. His team created a technique that led to the birth of four healthy macaque monkeys.
The research involved the transplantation of genetic material in the DNA of one monkey into the egg of another to correct genetic defects that damage health.
The success of the technique, germline genetic engineering, could mean that it could be used in women in a matter of years to allow them to avoid passing along so-called harmful genes to their unborn children.
However, the technique makes it so the children it creates would inherit genetic material from three parents. The unborn baby's mother and father would contribute most of their child’s DNA but a small amount would come from a second woman donating healthy mitochondria, where defects can cause issues for one out of ever 6,500 people.
“The only way to treat these defects is to replace the genes,” Mitalipov told the London Daily mail newspaper.
“This is gene transfer involving the germline, which is a concern, but we are pursuing it not for general use but for patients with mutations they will pass to the next generation. We believe this technology will prevent that," he said.
His team published their findings in the journal Nature, where they modified eggs containing chromosomes from one female monkey and mitochondria from another and fertilized them using sperm. The resulting embryos were transferred to the wombs of surrogate mothers.
The first monkeys to be born were twins called Mito and Tracker, after a dye called MitoTracker used in the experiments. Two more monkeys were born after later experiments.
Tests showed that none of the monkeys had any trace of mitochondrial DNA from the mother that provided their nuclear DNA, suggesting that the process was successful.
“We consider it a big achievement,” Dr Mitalipov said. “Anything we study and achieve in non-human primates can be translated much more easily to humans.”
He told the Daily Mail that his would apply to the FDA for permission to try the technique with human eggs. Such research would have to wait for a few years for the longer-term results of the study involving the monkeys to produce enough data about their health.
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I see things like this and the only printable thought is “Lord Jesus, come quickly!”.
This is truly frightening.
Geez! Can you imagine the courts cases for child support this will cause?
3 daddies, 3 mommies, 2 daddies and a mommy, 2 mommies and a daddy......
Gee, it would be so awful if people could avoid passing on devastating mitochondrial defects to their children < /s>
So people with sickle cell anemia, trey sacks, cystic fibrosis can have children that are theirs without passing on the gene for those traits.
Selfish perhaps, with so many children who need adoption; but “hellish”?
Do you even know what mitochondrial DNA is? Or what mitochondria are, for that matter?
Ja, das master race ist kommen, nicht?
Isn’t that what makes you a Jedi? < KIDDING! >
So, you SUPPORT this?
"so they'll only have to deal with personality defects later in life."
duh.
Not to mention the tortured monky!
Actually this doesn’t help with any of those diseases. Those are all due to defects in the main, nuclear DNA, that comes from both parents. Mitochondrial DNA is outside cell nuclei, in the mitochondria, and is passed down only maternally. This process substitutes normal, healthy mitochondria from a donor egg, for the mother’s genetically defective mitochondria.
Absolutely. And I don’t think you even understand what it is.
I’m sure this will turn out well...Not...
I think this “third parent” thing is a bit overstated. 49.99% from mom and 49.99% from mom and some 16,000 bp of mitochondrial sequence out of some 3 billion from a donor.
What do you think it is?
Oops...
Make that
“49.99% from dad, 49.99% from mom, and some 16,00 base pairs out of 3 billion from a donor”
Now what could possibly go wrong here?
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