mutations,” explains Rahman.
In other words, three-quarters of
families carrying mitochondrial diseases
somewhere in their lineage will not be
able to use mitochondrial donation to
protect their children.
Nonetheless, the Human Fertilisation
Embryology Authority carried out three
scientific reviews of the treatment, and
concluded that it was safe.
“It is a bold step for Parliament to take,
but it is a considered and informed step,”
MP Jane Ellison, Parliamentary Under-
Secretary of State for Health, told the
House of Commons in February 2015.
“This is world-leading science within a
highly respected regulatory regime, and
for the families affected it is a light at the
end of a very dark tunnel.”GROUNDBREAKING SCIENCE
On 25 July 1978, Louise Brown – the first
ever test tube baby – was born in Oldham
General Hospital to her parents, John and
Lesley. At the time, concerns were raised
about ‘Frankenbabies’ and ‘playing God’,
while certain members of the public
subjected the Browns to hate mail and
ridicule. Today, however, more than five
million children have been born via IVF.
Ultimately, doctors are confident that
this new technique will follow in the path
of IVF to become a routine treatment that
could transform lives. ßPRE-BIRTH
THERAPIES
BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS
Since 1989, foetal blood transfusions have
been successfully performed. They involve
injecting donor blood into a developing
foetus (usually through the umbilical cord).
They are used for conditions such as bare
lymphocyte syndrome, an immune disorder,
and severe combined immunodeficiency
(SCID) or ‘bubble boy syndrome’.STEM CELL TRANSPLANT
Blood transfusions are usually given to
patients only once symptoms of diseases
appear. But to treat inherited conditions
such as SCID and sickle cell anaemia
much earlier, researchers are trialling
treatments that involve injecting donor
stem cells into a foetus. No human trials
have taken place yet but animal studies
are promising.PRENATAL GENE THERAPY
Gene therapies, which use modified viruses
to deliver genes into a patient’s nuclear
DNA, have been used for over 20 years
to treat adults and children with certain
diseases. But for many conditions, such as
cystic fibrosis, organ damage has already
taken place by childhood – sometimes even
before birth. By treating foetuses in the
womb, researchers hope to stop damage
before it starts. There have been successful
trials in mice, monkeys and sheep.FOETAL ‘PRIMING’
Researchers are exploring the potential to
‘prime’ the immune systems of developing
foetuses by transplanting proteins (rather
than genes or entire cells). Adults with
haemophilia can be treated with injections
of blood clotting proteins, but about one-
fifth of people reject the donor proteins.
By ‘priming’ the immune systems of foetal
mice with umbilical cord injections of the
protein, the baby mice were more likely to
accept transplants after birth.ZOE CORMIER is a freelance science
journalist and founder of Guerilla Science“This is world-
leading science
within a highly
respected
regulatory regime”
MP Jane Ellison, Parliamentary Under-Secretary
of State for Health
Left, from top to bottom: IVF pioneer Robert Edwards
holding Louise Brown with gynaecologist Patrick
Steptoe; IVF is common today, but Brown’s birth was
headline news at the time; Brown holds Matthew
Shepherd – the 1,000th baby born via IVF