baby science

When It Comes to In Vitro Fertilization, Is Three a Crowd?

Your grandchildren might have to pass AP Bio before their parents can explain to them where babies come from. Britain’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has launched a public survey to discuss the ethics of using three people to create a baby, the BBC reports. The topic has come up thanks to a new treatment that could cure hereditary mitochondrial diseases — which cause weak muscles and heart and can be fatal — by altering the makeup of the egg with a donor’s healthy mitochondria prior to in vitro fertilization. The technique is eliciting “slippery slope” arguments from conservative groups because it is technically a “permanent” form of genetic modification that would be passed on to future generations. So her kids won’t have mitochondrial diseases either?! Bring it on, Dr. Frankenstein. 

When It Comes to In Vitro, Is Three a Crowd?