Lawmakers in the United Kingdom have voted in favor of a law that would allow for an in vitro fertilization technique that would pave the way for three-parent babies.
The measure passed in the House of Commons and will be considered by the House of Lords before becoming law.
Proponents say the technique could prevent mitochondrial diseases while opponents object to the process that requires the destruction of an embryo.
"No other country has allowed this procedure and the international scientific community is not convinced that the procedure is safe and effective,” Bishop John Sherrington of the Catholic Church in England and Wales said in a
statement on the church website. "There are also serious ethical objections to this procedure which involves the destruction of human embryos as part of the process."
The amendment to the 2008 Human Fertilization and Embryology Act allows for the process that involves swapping a fraction of a mother’s DNA with that from an anonymous female donor,
The Guardian reported. Genetic defects in the mitochondria can cause illnesses such as liver failure, muscle wasting, blindness, and brain damage.
The baby would have three biological parents, but the donor mother would account for only about 0.2 percent of the baby’s genetics, The Guardian said.
"All reasonable and rigorous steps have been followed to reach this point,"
Health Minister Jane Ellison said, according to The Telegraph. "This is a bold step for parliament to take but it is considered an informed step. For many families affected it is light at the end of a very dark tunnel."
Some fear that passage of the measure will lead to further genetic modification of babies.
"Once the genie is out of the bottle, there will be no going back for society," Fiona Bruce MP said, according to The Telegraph.
Many Twitter users supported the measure.
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