Does Man Have Right to Play God; Test-Tube Babies. IVF.
The IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) technique called mitochondrial donation, or mitochondrial replacement therapy, involves replacing a small amount of faulty DNA in a mother's egg with healthy DNA from another woman, so the baby inherits genes from two females and one male. Dubbed "three-parent babies", the idea is to prevent certain genetic diseases from being passed on to the child.
IVF is basically a process which fertilizes an egg from a woman outside of her body; the egg is then put inside her uterus to develop. The baby as a result of this process is ‘expressed’ as a test-tube baby.
Several news sources said that MPs held a landmark vote on Tuesday (3 February, 2015) to decide whether to allow the creation of babies using DNA from three people.
If there is a "yes" vote in the Commons, Britain will become the first country to legalize babies with DNA from three people. The majority of experts are in favor, but the procedure has sparked an ethical debate among church figures, who are calling for mitochondrial donation in IVF babies to be blocked – Reuters.
Mitochondrial diseases are rare, affecting one in 5,000 of the population, but can be devastating. As children may inherit mitochondrial DNA defects from their mothers, but not their fathers, altering the faulty DNA in the mother's egg can help prevent mitochondrial disease.
Furthermore, according to Reuter and online media sources, the procedure is currently banned under UK law, but British MPs have been given the right to vote with their consciences. If the change in law is approved, the decision will pass to the House of Lords for a vote at the end of February 2014. Given the go-ahead by the Lords, the UK fertility regulator will be able to license fertility clinics for the procedure.
Now is this morally or ethically a right thing to do? Can scientist now play God? Is it safe and what risks are there? These are just some of the questions the public keep asking and probably should be asking in relation to IVF.
IVF is basically a process which fertilizes an egg from a woman outside of her body; the egg is then put inside her uterus to develop. The baby as a result of this process is ‘expressed’ as a test-tube baby.
Several news sources said that MPs held a landmark vote on Tuesday (3 February, 2015) to decide whether to allow the creation of babies using DNA from three people.
If there is a "yes" vote in the Commons, Britain will become the first country to legalize babies with DNA from three people. The majority of experts are in favor, but the procedure has sparked an ethical debate among church figures, who are calling for mitochondrial donation in IVF babies to be blocked – Reuters.
Mitochondrial diseases are rare, affecting one in 5,000 of the population, but can be devastating. As children may inherit mitochondrial DNA defects from their mothers, but not their fathers, altering the faulty DNA in the mother's egg can help prevent mitochondrial disease.
Furthermore, according to Reuter and online media sources, the procedure is currently banned under UK law, but British MPs have been given the right to vote with their consciences. If the change in law is approved, the decision will pass to the House of Lords for a vote at the end of February 2014. Given the go-ahead by the Lords, the UK fertility regulator will be able to license fertility clinics for the procedure.
Now is this morally or ethically a right thing to do? Can scientist now play God? Is it safe and what risks are there? These are just some of the questions the public keep asking and probably should be asking in relation to IVF.