Baby with 3 parents in ‘fertility revolution’
THE first baby with DNA from three parents was born in April in a breakthrough described as “revolutionary” by clinicians last night.
Five-month-old Abrahim Hassan has the genetic coding of his Jordanian mother, father and a female donor.
A US-based team in Mexico carried out the controversial fertility technique, which allows couples with potentially fatal hereditary conditions to have healthy babies.
Abrahim’s mother has “defective mitochondrial DNA” which needed replacing to prevent the baby developing Leigh syndrome, a disorder that affects the central nervous system.
He was conceived from an egg containing nuclear DNA from his mother and father and mitochondrial DNA from a mystery donor.
Experts said the results herald a new era in medicine.
Dusko Ilic, from King’s College London, said: “This is great news and a huge deal. It’s revolutionary.”