This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

Britain Votes To Allow World's First "Three-Parent" IVF Babies

Britain Votes To Allow World's First "Three-Parent" IVF Babies
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 01: Fans fly a Union Jack flag during the Scottish League Cup Semi-Final between Celtic and Rangers at Hampden Park on February 1, 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Julian Finney via Getty Images
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 01: Fans fly a Union Jack flag during the Scottish League Cup Semi-Final between Celtic and Rangers at Hampden Park on February 1, 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

LONDON - Britain voted on Tuesday to become the first country to allow a "three-parent" IVF technique which doctors say can prevent some inherited incurable diseases but which critics see as a step towards creating designer babies.

Parliament voted overwhelmingly for the technique, called mitochondrial donation, which is also known as "three-parent" in vitro fertilisation (IVF) because the babies would have DNA from a mother, a father and from a female donor.

The treatments, which are still at the research stage in laboratories in Britain and the United States, are designed to help families with mitochondrial diseases -- incurable conditions passed down the maternal line that affect around one in 6,500 children worldwide.

Proposed new laws allowing the treatments to be carried out in the UK still have to be approved by Britain's upper house, which commentators expect to endorse parliament's support.

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.