A child having three biological parents may seem like something straight out of a science fiction novel. However, that's exactly what officials from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are mulling over.
On Tuesday, health regulators from the FDA met to discuss a controversial proposal. The two-day meeting will involve the discussion of a technique that can be used to create an embryo with the genetic materials from three distinct individuals. The officials and experts at the meeting will discuss "scientific, technologic and clinical" matters regarding the said technique.
Research on the subject matter is being conducted in an effort to prevent the inheritance of certain genetic diseases that can be passed on from mother to child. While the research can potentially bring forth a medical revolution that can save thousands if not millions of children from a large number of genetic illnesses, numerous ethical problems inevitably crop up.
The FDA meeting will be held to hear both the proponents and the opponents of the in-vitro fertilization technique. While the proponents are focused on the numerous potential benefits that can be reaped by using such a technique, opponents argue a "slippery slope" proposition saying that putting the technique into practice could eventually lead to "designer babies."
"We want to replace these mutated genes, which by nature have become pathogenic to humans," Dr. Shoukhrat Mitalipov told the Associate Press, who will present on Tuesday. "We're reversing them back to normal, so I don't understand why you would be opposing that." Dr. Mitalipov, a researcher from the Oregon Health & Science Univerity in Portland, will also be attending the FDA hearing.
The initial research for this type of in vitro fertilization using three distinct DNA sources was conducted at the Oregen Health & Science University. Mitalipov and his team were able to create five healthy monkeys from embryos fertilized with DNA from three parent monkeys. Mitalipov is currently waiting for FDA approval so that he and his team can move on to testing the technique on humans. If the FDA approves his proposal, a small test group of human mothers may be able to to give birth to healthy children who do not possess the genetic disease present in their mothers.
"It does initially look like something you would want to support," said Marcy Darnovsky PhD, the Executive Director of the Center for Genetics and Society. "But the safety concerns and the social and ethical concerns are really overriding."
