Dad, Mom and Mom: in the UK they can allow children from three parents

The Lower House of the British Parliament voted to allow genetic operations in which the genetic material from one woman’s egg is transferred to another in order to combat genetic diseases. The decision will come into force after approval in the House of Lords.

These operations are carried out to eliminate mitochondrial genetic diseases. Part of human DNA is in the nucleus of cells, and some - in the mitochondria. This portion is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA. It contains genetic material that does not affect, for example, the person’s appearance, but is responsible for how cells absorb energy. Diseases associated with defects in mtDNA can lead to abnormal development of the brain, muscles, problems with the cardiovascular apparatus and blindness. In this case, mtDNA in humans is transmitted through the maternal line.

Phased tripartite fertilization can be done in two ways. First, sets of eggs are obtained - one from the mother, with defective mtDNA, and the other from the donor. In the first case, the eggs are fertilized, and then the pronuclei extracted from the mother's egg are inserted into the donor's egg cell.
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In the second case, the mother extracts the nucleus from the egg and embeds it into the donor egg, from which the nucleus was previously extracted, and the resulting material is then fertilized.



If these procedures are approved, the UK will become the first country in the world where tripartite fertilization will be possible. In this case, several years of clinical trials will take place, after which it will be available in clinics dealing with infertility treatment.

Interestingly, according to statistics for March 2014, almost 70,000 children lived in UK children's homes. At the same time, every year less and less such children fall into families - in 2012 this figure was about 3200 .