World’s first baby born using DNA from three parents

A revolutionary technique to create a viable embryo using DNA from three parents has resulted in the first live birth achieved through this method.

New Scientist has reported that John Zhang and his team at the New Hope Fertility Center in New York City have accomplished the feat at the behest of Jordanian parents who wished to avoid passing a hereditary condition on to their child.

The mother is a genetic carrier for Leigh syndrome, a fatal disorder affecting the developing nervous system that is coded for by genes in the mitochondria. Only 37 genes, which are passed down by the mother and separated from the rest of the DNA, are responsible for this risk.

As this issue has resulted in two child deaths for the couple, they sought to make use of the three-parent technique, which in this case involved removing the nucleus from the mother's eggs and inserting it into a donor egg, before fertilising them with the father's sperm.

No embryos were destroyed, with a male embryo used to avoid passing on any inherited mitochondrial DNA. The procedure was carried out in Mexico, as it has not yet been legalised in the US.

The baby is now five months old and shows no signs of disease. This accomplishment should now kickstart further research in this field.

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