Three parents–one baby. “What are those mad scientists up to?” you may ask. Don’t worry–the entire process is actually a lot simpler than it sounds. Three person babies are mitochondrial transplants. Mitochondria are small organelles, structures in cells that have a unique form and function, that create the greatest amount of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in our cells. ATP is one of the primary sources of energy in our bodies and is needed to fuel most of the biochemical processes that keep us alive.
Mitochondria are inherited only from mother to child within the mother’s egg. The problem is that since a child will receive an almost identical copy of his or her mother’s mitochondria, with a very slim chance of natural mutation, most women with mitochondrial disease are forced to choose between knowingly having children that will suffer from the same disease and never having children at all. In England, they hope to end the necessity of that choice with mitochondrial transplants.
There is no overt genetic manipulation in a three-parent baby. It is a form of in vitro fertilization, in which an egg and sperm from the prospective child’s parents are brought together outside of the womb to create a single cell containing their compiled DNA within the nucleus of that cell. The DNA will determine who that new person will be and what they will look like as it is the “blueprint” for everything that humans are. When sperm and egg meet, the DNA is shared and combined completely randomly into one genome whose uniqueness is incomprehensible. If the fertilized egg from the intended mother has defective mitochondria, the DNA of the resulting cell is removed with microneedles and inserted into a new host egg from a donor. The nucleus of the donor egg is removed and discarded prior to the insertion of the new DNA, but the healthy mitochondria from the donor parent still remains. The cell then rapidly divides and grows into the human that it was meant to be, as laid out by its DNA. The entire process is known as pro-nuclear transfer and gives the child three biological parents.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of valid controversy surrounding this subject, and time will only tell what this will bring humanity, but it is certainly an interesting time to be alive!
Designer babies are genetically engineered and are results of in vitro fertilization.
Image Source: Laguna Design
