In an effort to shield the youngsters from inheriting uncommon genetic illnesses, Britain’s reproductive regulator on Wednesday certified the births of the country’s first infants made using an experimental process that combined DNA from three people.
In order to safeguard the privacy of the families, the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority stated that fewer than five infants have been born in the U.K. in this manner. The publication Guardian broke the news first.
The U.K. was the first nation to implement legislation governing procedures to assist prevent pregnant women with defective mitochondria — the cell’s energy source — from passing problems on to their offspring in 2015. In 2016, the United States reported the birth of the first baby ever born via the procedure.
