healthmedicinet

The timing of such a report is crucial as the Government prepares to push
ahead with legislation which would make the UK the first country in the
world to create babies with genes from three biological parents – despite
strong opposition over ethical and safety concerns.

The plans are backed by many UK scientists and by families who have suffered
from inherited disorders.

But a growing number of critics say the process “crosses an ethical line” by
manipulating DNA in ways that will be passed down generations.

Stuart Newman, professor of cell biology and anatomy at New York Medical
College, has expressed concern that pairing up different genes in an
“arbitrary fashion” could lead to “developmental or physiological
malfunctions”.

And Professor Evan Snyder, who chairs the scientific panel advising the US
Food and Drug Administration on mitochondrial transfer, this week said there
were still “too many safety issues” to approve the technique.

Legislation in the UK is expected to be laid before Parliament within weeks,
with a vote due as early as January.

However, any new research which could potentially reduce the risks of the
technique could help push the crucial amendments to the Human Fertilisation
and Embryology Act forward.

The legislation aims to create babies born free of serious inherited diseases
such as muscular dystrophy which come from the mother’s faulty mitochondria
– the “batteries” that power cells.

One method currently being trialled in UK laboratories involves taking genetic
material from inside the mother’s egg and transferring it into a healthy egg
donated by another woman, which does not contain the faulty DNA.

This egg is then fertilised with the father’s sperm.

This leaves any resulting baby with genetic material from both parents but
also a small amount from the donor.

The new Chinese research uses a less invasive approach and takes genetic
material from the mother from the outside layer of the egg, rather than the
inside, in a process called Polar Body Transfer (PBT).

This may reduce the amount of “bad” mitochondria which could be transferred
into the healthy egg, and may reduce the amount of damage caused to the
genetic material itself during transfer.

Neurologist Professor Doug Turnbull, who leads the UK research on
mitochondrial transfer at Newcastle University, said his team would be
investigating the new technique.

Prof Turnbull said: “There appear to be three main benefits – there is
potentially less damage caused, polar bodies are already formed into a
structure which allows you to see the chromosomes there and there are fewer
mitochondria inside them which reduces the risk of them being passed on.

“But this is at a very early stage, and the techniques we’ve been using have
been around for far longer and we have greater confidence that they work.”

He said the experimental new technique was not covered by the legislation.

“It might well be very good but we don’t want the legislation to be held up
because of this.”

Prof Turnbull said he believed many of those opposed to mitochondrial transfer
used safety as a concern when their real opposition was on ethical grounds.

The neurologist said he hoped his centre would be able to apply to the HFEA
for a licence to carry out the treatment sometime in 2015 if the legislation
was passed.

But he warned there could be further delays.

“We don’t know yet what the HFEA will require from us for a licence to be
granted, for example, in terms of following up children born from this
technique. It’s like going up a mountain: you think you’re almost at the top
and you’re just not quite there yet.”

The HFEA’s Expert Panel chair Andy Greenfield said: “There is still more work
to be done, and it is perhaps at an earlier stage of development than its
sibling techniques, but we believe PBT represents an exciting new
development in this area.”