Three-parent babies risk future of the human race, Italian MPs warn but Lord Carey says rejecting law would be 'unloving'

I do not comprehend this.....someone actually mentioned this invention to me a while back, I did not believe it is this serious....this world is really coming to an end!

Three-parent babies risk the future of the human race and put Britain at odds with EU law, politicians from across Europe have warned.

MPs from Italy claim the 'human species as a whole' will be affected by the controversial technique, while MEPs in Brussels warn it violates 'human dignity and integrity of the person'.

But ahead of a vote on the law in the House of Lords, former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey dismissed the 'unfathomable' opposition and vowed to defy the Church's line to back the idea.

 Graphic shows how the three-parent baby process works. However critics argue there is a small risk of diseased mitochondria could be carried over too (point 4)

MPs last month voted in favour of Britain becoming the first country in the world to permit the creation of IVF babies with genetic material from three different people, despite warnings from some experts warn it would be an 'historic mistake'.

Scientists at Newcastle University have developed a way of swapping the mother-to-be's diseased mitochondria – the 'batteries' that give cells energy – with healthy ones from another woman's egg.

Supporters stress that mitochondrial DNA is 0.054 per cent of a person's overall DNA and none of the nuclear DNA which determines personal characteristics and traits.

David Cameron backed the law change, insisting it was not 'playing God' but the chance to hep parents have a 'healthy and happy baby'.

But some 50 MEPs have written to the Prime Minister calling for him to withdraw the legislation, which is due to be debated in the Lords.

Slovakian MEP Miroslav Mikolásik has called on the European Commission to 'take steps' over Britain's 'lack of compliance' with EU law.

In the letter he and 49 other MEPs said: 'We are writing to you to express our profound concern at the intention of the UK to permit the modification of the human genome.

'Your proposals violate the fundamental standards of human dignity and integrity of the person.'

Meanwhile a group of Italian MPs have also called on the House of Lords to vote against the plans.

In a letter to The Times, they warned the technique 'could have uncontrollable and unforeseeable consequences, affecting future generations and modifying genetic heritage in an irreversible way, inevitably affecting the human species as a whole'.

The letter added: 'The greater part of the scientific community maintain that the scientific data currently available is insufficient to even consider intervention on human subjects, and there cannot therefore be any guarantee for the safety of any eventual off-spring'.

However, supporters of the technique have rejected the idea that the global scientific community is opposed to mitochondrial donation.

Lord Carey said he was surprised that Church of England in the Lords were preparing to support a delaying motion from the Roman Catholic peer Lord Deben.

In an article in the Mail on Sunday, he said: 'It would be received by families as a cruel and unnecessary delay after seven years of investigation, consultation, parliamentary discussion and scrutiny.'

He added: 'Much opposition is coming from well-organised campaigns from Catholics from Latin America and Eastern Europe. But if we cannot make any alteration, then we will deny ourselves the possibility of ever improving life for those who suffer from these intractable conditions.

'Turning our backs on these advances is uncaring and unloving. We live in an exciting time for medical research and we must support caring scientists and doctors with the resources and proper regulations to do their work.'

Q&A: HOW MITOCHONDRIAL DONATION WORKS AND WHY IT IS NEEDED

Mitochondrial donation would allow IVF babies to be born with DNA from three different people should be made legal.

The technique involves replacing DNA in an egg in order to prevent devastating inherited mitochondrial diseases.

WHAT ARE MITOCHONDRIA? 

Mitochondria are tiny rod-like structures in cells which act as power houses, generating the energy that allows our bodies to function. Unusually, they have their own DNA, distinct from the genetic material within the cell nucleus. Mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) makes up about 0.1% of a cell's total DNA and does not affect individual characteristics such as appearance and personality.

WHAT CAUSES MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASE? 

Harmful mutations in mitochondrial DNA can prevent the mitochondria working properly, resulting in a number of diseases some of which can be serious and life threatening. They may affect major organs and cause conditions ranging from poor vision to diabetes and muscle wasting.

HOW ARE MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASES PASSED ON? 

Children may inherit mitochondrial DNA defects from their mothers, but not their fathers. People with faulty mDNA can develop symptoms or be carriers of the condition without experiencing ill-effects themselves.

WHAT IS MITOCHONDRIAL DONATION?

Defective mDNA from a mother's egg can be replaced with healthy mDNA from a donor. This will then prevent the harmful mutations being inherited and passed onto future generations.

WHAT ARE THE TECHNIQUES INVOLVED? 

There are two different procedures, one carried out before fertilisation and the other after.

Maternal Spindle Transfer (MST) involves first removing the nuclear DNA from a donor egg whose mitochondria are healthy. The 'spindle' of chromosomes containing the mother's nuclear DNA is then taken from her egg and inserted into the donor egg. As a result, the donor egg is left with nuclear DNA from the mother and mDNA from the donor. This healthy egg is then fertilised and implanted into the mother's womb.

Pronuclear Transfer (PT) is similar but in this case the mother's egg is fertilised first. Its nuclear DNA is then transferred to a fertilised donor egg, containing healthy mitochondria, whose own nuclear DNA has been removed. This healthy fertilised egg is then implanted.

HOW SAFE IS MITOCHONDRIAL DONATION? 

Animal and laboratory experiments suggest that the procedures are safe, but no-one can say that the risk is zero. Three separate reviews by an expert panel convened by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology's Authority have found no evidence that the techniques are unsafe for clinical use.

Critics argue that problems might only arise once the procedure is used to create human babies. For instance, replacing mDNA might have more of an impact on personal traits than had been envisaged. Unknown epigenetic effects, environmental influences that alter the way genes work, may also have serious consequences for the health of babies, it is claimed.

What???