Australia is on track to create a baby with three people’s DNA as early as next year, after the United Kingdom revealed eight such children had been born through the technology.

New South Wales

A pioneering IVF technique has resulted in the birth of eight babies using DNA from three individuals, aiming to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial disease. This condition, which can cause severe and sometimes fatal health issues, is passed down through generations and has deeply affected families in Australia.

The method involves transferring the nuclear genetic material from the intended parents into a donor egg with healthy mitochondria, resulting in an embryo with over 99% of the parents' DNA and less than 1% from the donor. Australian legislation passed in 2022, known as Maeve's Law, has made mitochondrial donation possible, with clinical availability expected in the coming years.

Eight babies with DNA from three people born in world-first project

Eight healthy babies about to change the world. All born using DNA from three people. The IVF technique offers hope to families desperate to spare their own children from a group of disabling and often lethal genetic conditions caused by mitochondrial disease. The disease that affects families through generations, from grandparents to mothers to children, all of whom can pass the disease onto their children. That's where that fear kind of came from. I was so afraid that I'd break someone else's heart over watching a child go through this. Queenslander Ashley Greenhall lives with a vision impairment that began when she was eight and has also made her mother and brother blind. But the disease can be even more devastating. After having two healthy babies, Liz Curtis lost her third daughter to the disease at just six months old. We had the situation where she had two cardiac arrests and she was rushed into intensive care and put on a life support machine. The new IVF method involves creating an embryo from a mother and father, then transplanting the nuclear genetic material into a donor's egg with unaffected mitochondria. The result is an embryo made up of 99% of its parents' genetic material and less than one percent from the donor. The mitochondrial DNA doesn't carry any sort of characteristics or traits, so the offspring won't look like the mitochondrial donor at all. They won't inherit any traits. In Australia, legislation known as Maeve's Law made mitochondrial donation possible in 2022. The next step is for clinicians to get licensing approvals with hopes it could become available in Australia via IVF from late 2026. Science giving people like Ashley a chance they once thought they may never have. It feels really empowering to know that there is this kind of technology available. It feels really freeing. Steph Baumgartel, 10 News.

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