This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Three-person baby licence granted
The Newcastle Fertility Centre has been granted the first licence to offer a fertility treatment to mothers affected by mitochondrial disease.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HEFA) has granted the treatment licence, an advanced form of IVF, meaning that later in 2017 women will receive the treatment as an NHS service at the Newcastle Fertility Centre and at the NHS Highly Specialised Service for Mitochondrial Disease.
The centre, run by the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said that the licence marked a ‘momentous day’ for patients, and is expecting to help 25 couples a year with the treatment.
Mitochondrial disease is caused by defective mitochondria - the tiny structures in nearly every cell that convert food into useable energy - and leaves people with insufficient energy to keep their heart beating. The licence will allow babies to be created from two women and one man, using a donor egg as well as the mother's egg and father's sperm, thus preventing the inheritance of genetic diseases.
Mary Herbert, Professor of Reproductive Biology, Newcastle Fertility Centre, said: "The team here at Newcastle Fertility Centre is delighted with the HFEA’s decision to grant our clinic a licence to offer treatments to prevent transmission of mitochondrial DNA disease.
“Many years of research have led to the development of pronuclear transfer as a treatment to reduce the risk of mothers transmitting disease to their children. It’s a great testament to the regulatory system here in the UK that research innovation can be applied in treatment to help families affected by these devastating diseases."
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