In the early 2000s, 117 children were born using the cytoplasmic transfer technique. By mixing the DNA of two women and a man into a single baby, it helps prevent the transmission of mitochondrial diseases, which are rare (9 to 12 cases per 100,000 people), but incurable and sometimes very serious. In 2001, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) halted this process, saying it “crosses an ethical line drawn by many scientists and bioethicists regarding altering the genetic profile of unborn children.”
Today, despite some uncertainties, American and British scientists are calling for the legalization of a more advanced version of cytoplasmic transfer, says the New York Times. The debate has begun.
On the one hand, critics believe that the technique has not been sufficiently studied and that it exceeds the ethical limits of genetics. On the other hand, favorable experts say that it is “not only promising, but also preferable because it gives a chance to women who did not have the possibility of having a healthy child”, advances Nita Farahani, professor. of Law, Philosophy and Genome Political Science at Duke University.
Researchers pro-cytoplasmic transfer are therefore trying to prove the harmlessness of this technique, born from the research of the fertility specialist at the Saint-Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, Jacques Cohen, about 13 years ago.
