The first babies to be created using a “three-parent” method to overcome their parents’ infertility are due to be born in early 2017. New Scientist has learned that two women in Ukraine are both more than 20 weeks pregnant with fetuses created using such a technique. The babies would be the first born to women who had the procedure to treat infertility, rather than to prevent hereditary disease,
but some have criticised this approach, calling for it to be banned until there is more evidence that the embryos it creates are healthy. The technique used is the same as that approved last year by the UK parliament – the only country in the world to legalise the procedure – although there it is allowed only to prevent parents passing hereditary diseases to their children. READ MORE
