First baby born in UK with DNA from three different people

The fertility regulator confirmed that a baby was born in the UK using DNA from three different people for the first ever.

Their DNA is mostly inherited from their two parents with a small amount (around 0.1%) from a female donor.

This pioneering technique aims to prevent the birth of children with mitochondrial disease.

No further information has been provided about the births of up to five babies.

Mitochondrial disease is incurable, and it can cause death within a few days or hours after birth. This technique is used by some families who have lost several children.

The mitochondria in nearly every cell converts food into usable energy.

Defective mitochondria are unable to fuel the human body. This leads to brain injury, muscle loss, heart failure and even blindness.

The mother is the only one who can transmit them. The mitochondrial donation is a modified IVF treatment that uses the mitochondria of a healthy egg donor.

The mitochondria, however, have their genetic information. This means that technically, the resulting child inherits DNA from his or her parents and also a tiny bit from the donor. This is a permanent mutation that will be passed through generations.

The UK introduced laws to allow for the creation of such children in 2015 after the technique was developed in Newcastle.

HFEA, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, says that “less five” babies were born on 20 April 2023. It does not provide precise numbers so as to avoid identifying families.

The Guardian newspaper made a Freedom of Information Request and these limited details were revealed.

The director of Progress Educational Trust, Sarah Norcross, said that the news of a few babies born with mitochondria donated in the UK was the next step in a process which will likely remain slow and cautious in assessing and refining the mitochondrial donation.

It is not known if the technique worked because the teams from Newcastle haven’t responded.

Prof Robin Lovell Badge from the Francis Crick Research Institute said: “It would be interesting to see how the mitochondrial therapy technique works on a practical basis, if the babies are completely free of mitochondrial diseases, and if there is a risk that they will develop problems in later life.”

It is possible that the number of defective mitochondria can increase and cause disease.

It was once estimated that 150 of these babies could be born every year in the UK.