Scientists create three-parent embryos
LONDON, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- British scientists, looking for ways to eliminate metabolic disorders, have created human embryos containing DNA from one father and two mothers.
The research could lead to genetically altered babies, The Independent newspaper reported Tuesday.
Researchers at the University of Newcastle said they want to employ the in vitro-fertilization method to wipe out 50 or so metabolic disorders linked to faults in a small set of 37 genes outside the nucleus of cells, called mitochondria, that affect one person in every 6,500 with conditions ranging from fatal liver failure to diabetes.
Experiments with mice have shown it is possible to have offspring with new mitochondria, curing the metabolic disorders, the newspaper said.
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