Britain on Thursday became the first country to formally license an in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment designed to create babies from three people. In a long-awaited decision, Britain’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) gave the final go-ahead for the treatment known as mitochondrial transfer, which doctors say could help prevent incurable
inherited diseases. Britain’s parliament last year voted to change the law to allow the treatments if and when they were ready for licensing. This latest HFEA decision means the first babies created by the technique in Britain could be born in 2017. The government’s chief scientific adviser, Mark Walport, praised the decision as a “careful and considered” assessment which put Britain at the forefront of medical advances. READ MORE
