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UK’s first ‘three-person baby’ has been born

Home> News

Updated 07:42 10 May 2023 GMT+1Published 07:35 10 May 2023 GMT+1

UK’s first ‘three-person baby’ has been born

A baby with the DNA of three people has been born for the first time in the UK

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

The UK's first ever 'three person baby' has been born and they're one of only a handful of children around the world who share the DNA of three people.

The vast majority of the child's DNA comes from their parents, but around 0.1 percent is from a donor and while it might not seem like much, the difference could be life changing for the child.

With just 0.1 percent of DNA from a third person, a baby might avoid being born with mitochondrial diseases which are incurable and can be fatal within days or even hours of birth.

You might have heard that mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell - almost every cell in your body has mitochondria which convert food into energy.

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A person born with defective mitochondria will have cells that don't get fuelled properly, which can lead to death or debilitating illnesses as muscles are undersupplied and vital organs don't get the energy they need.

By adding 0.1 percent of a third person's DNA a child could be born without potentially lethal diseases.
Mohamed Osama / Alamy Stock Photo

According to The Guardian, there are 'less than five' such babies born in the UK but further details have not been shared following a freedom of information request the paper made.

Doctors are being very secretive about the groundbreaking procedure as the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) wants to maintain patient confidentiality and provided no further details about the births.

The 'three person baby' is something scientists are hoping will provide a way around the risk of incurable mitochondrial diseases.

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Mitochondria are passed down via the mother and by adding mitochondria from a healthy donor egg during IVF it is hoped that this could successfully head off any health issues.

With the 'three person baby' some DNA from the third person is going to end up in the child, though it only affects their mitochondria and doesn't have an impact on things like appearance.

There are fewer than five 'three person babies' born in the UK but it is hoped they will live free of mitochondrial diseases.
JL Images / Alamy Stock Photo

The UK is not the first country to try this, as in 2016 a US doctor announced that the world's first baby born with mitochondrial donation treatment had been born, though the process did originate in Newcastle.

The mother of the world's first 'three person baby' was a Jordanian woman who had suffered four miscarriages and lost two other children before the age of eight.

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She was found to carry mitochondrial mutations which caused a fatal condition called Leigh Syndrome.

Laws were introduced in 2015 to allow the process to go ahead in the UK, though it would be several years before the first baby was born with the procedure.

Featured Image Credit: JL Images / Mohamed Osama / Alamy Stock Photo

Topics: UK News, News, Health, Science

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

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@MrJoeHarker

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