The doctor who pioneered the "three parent" IVF embryo technique is pushing for it to be used for infertility in older women, raising hopes for millions. But, says a report in The Independent, its use beyond those suffering from mitochondrial diseases will provoke an ethical storm.
The US scientist who pioneered the technique of mitochondrial transfer has applied for permission to use it as a fertility treatment for women who, because of their age, have difficulty becoming pregnant naturally or by conventional IVF. Dr Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a world authority on embryo manipulation, said he had requested permission from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct trials of mitochondrial transfer as a treatment for age-related infertility. He said the UK's parliamentary vote, when MPs overwhelmingly approved the "three-parent" baby technique for creating IVF babies free of mitochondrial disease, has bolstered his case with the US regulator.
"We hope it will help in the US, and hopefully the FDA will move faster. The families have heard about the UK outcome and they welcome it. We’re very excited by it," said Mitalipov, senior scientist at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. "Compared to a rare condition like mitochondrial disease, infertility is a big, big problem for modern society because of women delaying their first baby. When they finally decide, the delay has already affected their egg quality," he said.
The report says the development will be controversial, and there may be considerable demand for the treatment because, unlike conventional egg donation, it enables a woman to have her own genetically related child. Before the free Commons vote, there were impassioned arguments against the procedure on the grounds that allowing it to be used in the case of a serious genetic disease was the start of a slippery slope that could lead to genetically modified "designer babies".
John Harris, professor of bioethics at Manchester University, said that if mitochondrial donation were shown to be safe for women who want IVF babies free of mitochondrial diseases, then it would be hard to argue against its application to infertility in older women. Objectors say once you start making alterations, even a very tiny part of the mitochondria, then this will open the door to more radical genetic engineering and designer babies. "But that objection would not apply to this case. It could not be argued this is further down a slippery slope for the simple reason the slippery slope applies to the extension of the technique, not to the use of the same technique for another therapeutic purpose – and treating infertility is recognised as a therapeutic purpose," he explained. "It's not about extending the technique to make more radical changes to the DNA. It would be the same change to the DNA of the individual but for a different purpose, and it’s a therapeutic purpose. It would be like saying you can use antibiotics to treat one kind of infection, but not other kinds of infection."
But the Labour MP Frank Dobson, a former health secretary who spoke passionately in favour of legalising mitochondrial donation in the Commons, said he would find it hard to support its wider use as a general fertility treatment. "Mitochondrial donation is about children who are going to die. It’s a much more sympathetic case than using it for older women who want to have children," he said.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Anglican bishop Michael Nazir-Ali notes that the British Government’s 'own consultation reveals considerable public hostility to the procedure, as do opinion poll'. Whilst one in 200 children are born each year with some level of mitochondrial disorder, only one in 10,000 are severely affected. This means that only a very few births would be involved if the proposed technology were to be introduced.
'Conservative MP Fiona Bruce’s motion is well-taken and to the point: safety tests have yet to be carried out and reviewed. No other country has legalised this procedure for ethical reasons. The procedure would cause the germ-line to be interfered with and changed and human embryos could be destroyed in the process. It is unclear whether the UK would be violating international agreements on germ-line interventions and there has been no informed debate on the issue.'
The British legalisation has also caused ripples in Australia, where the procedure is currently forbidden. The Courier Mail writes: 'At what point do we realise we’ve gone too far in our obsession with creating perfect spawn and accept that not all of us were meant to become biological parents … and that is totally okay.
'This push for eugenics, the science of improving the genetic quality of the human population, invokes disturbing scenes from Aldous Huxley’s classic 1931 novel, Brave New World, which is set in a dehumanised future where sex has become strictly recreational and foetuses are bred in test tubes, genetically formulated to fit into predetermined roles.
'As with commercial surrogacy, three-parent IVF could also break the murky waters of reproductive commodification.
'In Australia, egg and sperm donation as well as surrogacy is altruistic only, meaning donors and surrogates can only be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses and are therefore not driven by money.
'The result is a chronic shortage of willing donors and surrogates, with many aspiring parents feeling compelled to travel overseas to countries – often poverty-stricken – where it is legal (or illegal, but easy to elude authorities) to pay for the service.
'As perfectly illustrated last year by the baby Gammy scandal in which a Down syndrome twin boy was abandoned with his surrogate by his Australian biological parents – including a father who was a convicted child sex offender – paying for reproductive services is fraught with complications.
'It’s not hard to imagine there will be similar horror stories should three-parent IVF become widely available, with parents seeking out impoverished women from Third World nations to donate their genetic material with the lure of cold, hard cash. And while the technique is heralded as a revolution for women with mitochondrial disease, what stops it being abused by polyamorous or same-sex couples wanting all their genes passed down to their next of kin?
[link url="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/threeparent-embryos-an-ivf-revolution-or-a-slippery-slope-to-designer-babies-10031477.html"]Full report in The Independent[/link
[link url="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/11386070/Three-parent-babies-an-ethical-boundary-is-being-crossed.html"]Full The Telegraph report:[/link]
[link url="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/three-parent-ivf-the-first-step-on-the-path-to-designer-babies/story-fnihsr9v-1227211638441?nk=0c98d73000518ef7aaa702d028a5b2f1"]Full Courier Mail report:[/link]
[link url="http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=4179627b-a6b0-40b8-85b2-daae9aedd02e"]Full Lexology analysis of legal implications:[/link]