Babies with Three Genetic
Parents: Going too Far?
In 2016 a baby was born with three genetic parents:
in the fertility clinic the nucleus from the mother's egg was
placed in a healthy egg from an unrelated donor and fertilized
with the father's sperm. Is this going too far with technology,
confusing what it means to be a parent or a child, or is this just
another medical advance that seems strange at first but we will
get used to? Discuss different sides of the issue and what
motivates people on each side, then draw a conclusion about
whether this technology should be allowed or not. Would you draw a
line and allow it in cases of mitochondrial disease but not as
another thing to try when the only issue is infertility? A key
question for such medical technologies is are there better
alternatives? Genetic engineering might be one way to prevent a
disease, but it might not be necessary if we can find a cure for
that disease.
http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2019/01/a-third-mrt-baby-is-on-its-way/
https://www.statnews.com/2019/04/16/mitochondrial-replacement-three-parent-ivf-ban/
https://www.nature.com/news/genetic-details-of-controversial-three-parent-baby-revealed-1.21761
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2199441-first-3-parent-baby-born-in-clinical-trial-to-treat-infertility/
https://www.vox.com/2018/7/24/17596354/mitochondrial-replacement-therapy-three-parent-baby-controversy
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10815-018-1370-7
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/congress-revives-ban-on-altering-the-dna-of-human-embryos-used-for-pregnancies/ (Links to an external site.)
https://www.the-scientist.com/critic-at-large/opinion-ethical-considerations-of-three-parent-babies-32320
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/opinion-three-parent-embryosa-slippery-slope-64312
https://www.wired.com/1998/01/morton/
(how heart transplants felt strange at first but we got used to
the idea)
