Scientists Confirm Eight Healthy Children Born from Controversial Three-Parent IVF

CLEVELAND 13 (WCTU) — Eight children in the United Kingdom are thriving after being conceived through a pioneering reproductive technique designed to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial diseases, researchers announced Wednesday. The results, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, are the first detailed reports on the health outcomes of children born through mitochondrial donation, commonly known as three-parent IVF.

“This is a landmark study on preventing mitochondrial disease,” said Dietrich Egli, a stem-cell scientist at Columbia University in New York City.

The procedure, conducted at Newcastle Fertility Centre, involves transferring the nucleus of a fertilized egg with defective mitochondria into a donor egg containing healthy mitochondria. The technique prevents harmful mutations in maternal mitochondrial DNA from being passed down, which can lead to severe health conditions such as heart failure, neurological damage, and muscle disorders. As a result, the children inherit nuclear DNA from their biological parents and mitochondrial DNA from an egg donor.

According to reproductive biologist Mary Herbert, who led the research team and is now at Monash University in Australia, 22 women with disease-causing mitochondrial mutations underwent the procedure, leading to the birth of eight children and one ongoing pregnancy. The children, four boys and four girls, range in age from five months to more than two years. Five of them have shown no health concerns, while three experienced minor medical issues that were resolved with treatment.

“We’re cautiously optimistic about these results,” said Robert McFarland, a pediatric neurologist at Newcastle University and co-leader of the study. “To see babies born at the end of this is amazing, and to know there’s not going to be mitochondrial disease at the end of that.”

The United Kingdom became the first country to formally regulate mitochondrial donation in 2015, following years of research and public debate. Although the procedure has been performed in other countries, the UK is the only nation with a robust regulatory framework for this type of IVF.

While initial findings are encouraging, researchers are monitoring the children for potential long-term health risks. In five of the children, no pathogenic mitochondria were detected. In the other three, between 5% and 16% of harmful mitochondria were present, levels believed to be below the threshold that would cause disease. “This is higher than we would have expected,” Herbert said, adding that ongoing surveillance is essential.

Experts warn that unknown long-term effects could still emerge. “While experiments on animals suggested these babies would probably be healthy, the effects of these manipulations are still unknown and could cause problems later in life,” said Joanna Poulton, Professor of Mitochondrial Genetics at the University of Oxford, in an interview with The Conversation.

Supporters of the technology argue that it offers families a critical option to avoid devastating genetic disorders. “Mitochondrial disease can be devastating for the family. It can be tragic,” said Doug Turnbull, professor of neurology at Newcastle University, who has worked on the technique for more than a decade. “This is an important breakthrough...a big step forward.”

Critics, however, raise ethical concerns about crossing the threshold into genetic manipulation. “It’s biologically dangerous,” said Stuart Newman, a professor of cell biology and anatomy at New York Medical College, citing fears of a slippery slope toward so-called “designer babies.”

Turnbull emphasized that Britain’s fertility laws are stringent. “I think there are enough checks and balances in the system to prevent this from becoming a slippery slope,” he said.

The eight UK children remain under regular medical observation, and researchers stress the importance of ongoing follow-up to ensure the safety and efficacy of this groundbreaking approach. “All the children are well and continue to meet their developmental milestones,” Turnbull reported. -------------------

At Cleveland 13 News, we strive to provide accurate, up-to-date, and reliable reporting. If you spot an error, omission, or have information that may need updating, please email us at tips@cleveland13news.com. As a community-driven news network, we appreciate the help of our readers in ensuring the integrity of our reporting.