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[Tak3n]

This is big.... critics claim this is the first step to a designer baby, but the idea is to stop diseases which get passed from Mother to baby...

Babies made from two women and one man have been approved by the UK's fertility regulator.
The historic and controversial move is to prevent children being born with deadly genetic diseases.
Doctors in Newcastle - who developed the advanced form of IVF - are expected to be the first to offer the procedure and have already appealed for donor eggs.
The first such child could be born, at the earliest, by the end of 2017.
Some families have lost multiple children to incurable mitochondrial diseases, which can leave people with insufficient energy to keep their heart beating.
The diseases are passed down from only the mother so a technique using a donor egg as well as the mother's egg and father's sperm has been developed.
The resulting child has a tiny amount of their DNA from the donor, but the procedure is legal, ethical and scientifically ready.

However, the decision is not universally welcome.
Dr David King, from the campaign group Human Genetics Alert, said: "This decision opens the door to the world of genetically-modified designer babies.
"Already, bioethicists have started to argue that allowing mitochondrial replacement means that there is no logical basis for resisting GM babies, which is exactly how slippery slopes work."
However, the UK will not be the first country in the world to have children born through the three-person technique.
A Jordanian couple and doctors in New York performed the procedure in Mexico and the resulting baby is understood to be healthy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38328097

 

[hydrophilic attack]

so it allows people who otherwise couldn't to have healthy kids

i don't see anything wrong with that

 

[Lagamorph]

From reading a few news articles on this I think it's an amazing technology. I don't think it's really paving the way for designer babies though, there simply isn't that level of manipulation going on here.

 

[Dougald]

I have no problem with this

 

[Pai Pai Master]

so it allows people who otherwise couldn't to have healthy kids

i don't see anything wrong with that

And conservatives will construe it as some kind of polygamy baby thing

 

[pelicansurf]

I'd like a designer baby

 

[danowat]

CTRL+F "Slippery slope"

There it is.........

 

[Zaph]

"Quaid..."

But seriously, this is incredible. If we can prevent children developing a condition which will reduce their quality of life and eventually kill them? Why not.

 

[Skellig Gra]

I must be crazy because I thought this was already happening for like a long time.

 

[Monocle]

But it's against gawd.

 

[linkandzelda]

I'd like a designer baby

.

 

[Luigi87]

This is a step toward making Coordinators!

 

[MrCunningham]

DNA Crispr will probably be the better way to go for designer babies in the future.

 

[kswiston]

From reading a few news articles on this I think it's an amazing technology. I don't think it's really paving the way for designer babies though, there simply isn't that level of manipulation going on here.

Nope. Chromosomes are still from the legal parents. The baby to be is just getting donor mirochondrial/denucleated egg material. This should be treated like any other donor/transplant situation.

 

[BigAT]

And conservatives will construe it as some kind of polygamy baby thing

What's next, having a baby with your dog?!

 

[CadetMahoney]

CTRL+F "Slippery slope"

There it is.........

well the tech is there. . .

 

[DiipuSurotu]

I must be crazy because I thought this was already happening for like a long time.

Surrogacy has been happening in the UK for a long time, but this is a much newer technique in which the baby actually has DNA from its two mothers instead of just the surrogate mother.

 

[Dai Kaiju]

But it's against gawd.

If I had to guess, I don't think He would like this very much...

 

[Monocle]

If I had to guess, I don't think He would like this very much...

He likes flesh eating parasites and little fishies that crawl up people's penises, so...

 

[kswiston]

Surrogacy has been happening in the UK for a long time, but this is a much newer technique in which the baby actually has DNA from its two mothers instead of just the surrogate mother.

Surrogate mothers carry an embryo to term. Typically said embryo is not genetically related to them.

Also, the DNA in question here is Mitochondrial DNA.

 

[Akuun]

This sounds like a good thing in every way. Not too different from donating organs to save someone.

This isn't like designer babies at all. The goal is to prevent diseases, not edit one's aesthetic traits.

 

[kswiston]

He likes flesh eating parasites and little fishies that crawl up people's penises, so...

That was Eve's fault for eating the apple. Before that, those little fishes were friends to penises and the parasites ate fruit.

 

[sikkinixx]

We'd like the skin tone of mom, with the height of dad mixed with the gray eyes of our friend please Doc.

 

[Mesousa]

We'd like the skin tone of mom, with the height of dad mixed with the gray eyes of our friend please Doc.

^^Lol you joke, but this sets up a dangerous precedence with the designer baby craze.

When all the rich kids are all fair skinned 6'2+ blue eyed blond super geniuses the disparity will really become impossible to bridge.

 

[archangelmorph]

However, the decision is not universally welcome.
Dr David King, from the campaign group Human Genetics Alert, said: "This decision opens the door to the world of genetically-modified designer babies.
"Already, bioethicists have started to argue that allowing mitochondrial replacement means that there is no logical basis for resisting GM babies, which is exactly how slippery slopes work."
However, the UK will not be the first country in the world to have children born through the three-person technique.
A Jordanian couple and doctors in New York performed the procedure in Mexico and the resulting baby is understood to be healthy.

Yeah...

Until (s)he get's angry...

Spoiler

 

[Pie and Beans]

With the way the NHS is currently, another dangerous precedent is only rich people being able to afford babies not born with deadly genetic diseases.

The New Christmas Carol will be Scrooge shrugging his shoulders over Tiny Tim because Bob Cratchit didn't have the forethought to go through the Two Egg Tick System.

 

[Sakura]

I wish I was a designer baby

 

[ReplacementPelican]

^^Lol you joke, but this sets up a dangerous precedence with the designer baby craze.

When all the rich kids are all fair skinned 6'2+ blue eyed blond super geniuses the disparity will really become impossible to bridge.

Gotta pull up your baby's first boostraps, mate.

 

[Shadynasty]

So after reading the article the mother's egg nucleus is transplanted into the donor egg. Sound great, but the article didn't really get into how this changes the DNA. The majority of the DNA is the nucleus anyway right? So what keeps it from replicating more bad mitochondria?

 

[Goliath]

With the way the NHS is currently, another dangerous precedent is only rich people being able to afford babies not born with deadly genetic diseases.

The New Christmas Carol will be Scrooge shrugging his shoulders over Tiny Tim because Bob Cratchit didn't have the forethought to go through the Two Egg Tick System.

There is a cheaper way to get similar results. Date outside your race or region. Throw some genetic variation into your gene pool. I'm a Puerto Rican Catholic married to a Russian/German Jew. We have our home made "designer" baby, lol.

 

[kswiston]

So after reading the article the mother's egg nucleus is transplanted into the donor egg. Sound great, but the article didn't really get into how this changes the DNA. The majority of the DNA is the nucleus anyway right? So what keeps it from replicating more bad mitochondria?

It doesn't change the DNA. The baby is getting donor mitochondrial DNA from the de-nucleated egg, but their 46 chromosomes are still coming from the parents having the baby. This is basically the same process used to clone animals (only in that case the nucleus comes from an autosomal cell containing the complete genome instead of a haploid set).

Mitochondria used to be separate life forms, that eventually formed a symbiotic relationship with early single celled organisms. We pass on the descendants of ancient bacteria to our children through the maternal line.

 

[Disagree Guy]

It doesn't change the DNA. The baby is getting donor mitochondrial DNA from the de-nucleated egg, but their 46 chromosomes are still coming from the parents having the baby. This is basically the same process used to clone animals (only in that case the nucleus comes from an autosomal cell containing the complete genome instead of a haploid set).

Mitochondria used to be separate life forms, that eventually formed a symbiotic relationship with early single celled organisms. We pass on the descendants of ancient bacteria to our children through the maternal line.

 

[Always-honest]

But it's against gawd.

We're gawd now.

 

[SumptuousLemur]

Damn good stuff! Fuck RNG!

 

[Raticus79]

Ha, that's quite a foot in the door. I wonder how much variation there is in the effectiveness of mitochondria?

Does the approval explicitly limit it to the purpose of preventing disease, or is it a broader approval for the process in general?

It's good news for these parents, at least.

 

[DragonSworne]

^^Lol you joke, but this sets up a dangerous precedence with the designer baby craze.

When all the rich kids are all fair skinned 6'2+ blue eyed blond super geniuses the disparity will really become impossible to bridge.

Hey, maybe we can stop warring and stop committing genocide then if we can have designer babies.

 

[Lagamorph]

Ha, that's quite a foot in the door. I wonder how much variation there is in the effectiveness of mitochondria?

Does the approval explicitly limit it to the purpose of preventing disease, or is it a broader approval for the process in general?

It's good news for these parents, at least.

This process could only be used for preventing disease as I understand it. This process alone could not be used for designer babies.

 

[kswiston]

Ha, that's quite a foot in the door. I wonder how much variation there is in the effectiveness of mitochondria?

Does the approval explicitly limit it to the purpose of preventing disease, or is it a broader approval for the process in general?

It's good news for these parents, at least.

Mitochondrial DNA is incredibly conservative in terms of functionality. The genes in your mitochondria are more or less the same as the genes in a fly's mitochondria.

 

[HardRojo]

Should probably find a different way to call it other than "Three person baby", because you know damn well conservatives will only read the name and disregard the details that come after it, such as the health implications.

 

[DragonSworne]

Should probably find a different way to call it other than "Three person baby", because you know damn well conservatives will only read the name and disregard the details that come after it, such as the health implications.

Mitochondria replacement.

 

[Glix]

As long as none of the parents are an immigrant, amirite?

edit - as a reflex i am very against genetically modified designer babies

 

[perfectchaos007]

^^Lol you joke, but this sets up a dangerous precedence with the designer baby craze.

When all the rich kids are all fair skinned 6'2+ blue eyed blond super geniuses the disparity will really become impossible to bridge.

I thought intelligence wasn't genetic, and environmental factors have more to do with it. Could be wrong

 

[AlexFlame116]

The title "three person baby" confused me for a bit but after reading the post it was actually very interesting. I had no idea this was a thing. I should look into this more for the full details.

That was Eve's fault for eating the apple.

Hmm.....

 

[Shadynasty]

It doesn't change the DNA. The baby is getting donor mitochondrial DNA from the de-nucleated egg, but their 46 chromosomes are still coming from the parents having the baby. This is basically the same process used to clone animals (only in that case the nucleus comes from an autosomal cell containing the complete genome instead of a haploid set).

Mitochondria used to be separate life forms, that eventually formed a symbiotic relationship with early single celled organisms. We pass on the descendants of ancient bacteria to our children through the maternal line.

I never knew that about mitochondria. So there's no chance of the parents nucleus replicating bad mitochondria because they're a completely separate. Good info sir.

 

[kswiston]

I thought intelligence wasn't genetic, and environmental factors have more to do with it. Could be wrong

As long as you get proper nutrition as a child (and by proper I mean you are not perpetually going through bouts of starvation, or are severely protein deficient), Intelligence is mostly hereditary. Upwards of 75% of the variation in IQ score can be accounted for by heritability. Adopted children have IQ scores that are more closely correlated to their birth parents and biological siblings than their adoptive family.

EDIT: Of course, learning is important to our ability to interact in society. So, average intelligence with a good education is going to put you in a better spot than someone who has above average intelligence but is functionally illiterate.

 

[Stallion Dan]

Goodbye gingers.

 

[Lashley]

The High Evolutionary is pleased

I see no problem with this

 

[Sorithin]

the idea is to stop diseases which get passed from Mother to baby...

Do diseases not get passed on from the father's sperm?

 

[Imperfected]

But babies make terrible designers, they don't even understand color theory.

 

[Volimar]

Mitochondria is the power house of the cell.