SINGAPORE: The normal course of human reproduction involves two biological parents - a mother and a father. But in the United Kingdom, eight babies have been born with DNA from three people, scientists from Newcastle University reported recently.

It’s the result of an in-vitro fertilisation technique called mitochondrial replacement. Some call it “three-parent IVF”. The procedure was developed to help women who are carriers of mitochondrial disease - which is passed down from mothers to their offspring - have healthy children.

Mitochondrial diseases, estimated to affect 1 in 5000 births, can cause a variety of serious health problems. These include stroke-like episodes, seizures, hearing loss, diabetes and deterioration of brain functioning.

In 2021, Singapore’s Bioethics Advisory Committee (BAC) recommended against permitting mitochondrial replacement, citing uncertainty around the safety of the technology. The committee recommended waiting for better data.

“A more definitive discussion of these issues would be better undertaken at a future date when more certainty regarding the science, techniques, safety and efficacy … is available,” stated the BAC’s interim report.

With Newcastle reporting healthy births and Australia already paving the way to allow mitochondrial donation, is it time to reconsider?

Such consideration should be in full view of a variety of ethical and social issues.

WHAT IS MITOCHONDRIAL REPLACEMENT?

Mitochondria are tiny parts of cells that act like batteries, storing and generating energy necessary for cells to operate. Mitochondrial defects can be particularly problematic for the functioning of brain and muscle cells, leading to brain disease or severe muscle weakness.

The Newcastle researchers used a method called “pronuclear transfer”. It involves three people: the mother, the father and a donor.

Doctors begin by fertilising both the mother’s and a healthy donor’s eggs with the father’s sperm. From the mother’s fertilised egg, they remove the nuclear DNA - which determines most of a person’s traits - leaving behind the unhealthy mitochondrial DNA. Then, they remove t...