Conservative MP says mitochondrial donation will produce 'genetically modified children'

The Conservative MP for North East Somerset, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has said that mitochondrial
donation will produce 'genetically modified children' with 'three parents', and
was 'effectively cloning'. He also described mitochondrial
donation as a 'multi-generational experiment' that 'tampered with human souls'.

Rees-Mogg made the comments in a Parliamentary debate on Wednesday, during
which some MPs expressed concern over the safety and ethics of using
mitochondrial donation to enable women with defective mitochondria to have
healthy children.

In her response, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, Jane
Ellison, asserted that mitochondrial donation'did not constitute a form of
human cloning' since 'any children resulting from the use of the technique
would have arisen from fertilisation and be genetically unique'.
This contrasts with cloning, where the offspring produced are genetically
identical to the 'parent'.

Ellison also referenced an ethical review of mitochondrial donation by
the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which rejected the idea that mitochondrial
donation represented a 'third parent' (reported in BioNews 661). This is in
agreement with the findings of a public consultation on mitochondrial donation
by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which considered that mitochondrial
donors are best thought of as similar to organ or tissue donors.

Mitochondrial DNA constitutes less than one percent of a person's genome, and is separate
from nuclear DNA. Mitochondrial replacement involves removing the nuclear
genetic material from an egg or embryo with
unhealthy mitochondria and transferring it to a donor egg or embryo with
healthy mitochondria. The technique, Ellison explained, gives 'women the
choice to have genetically related children without the risk of serious disease',
which could initially help ten to 20 families a year.

In her statement, Ellison highlighted the nature and impact of
mitochondrial diseases. 'Some affected children live short and painful lives',
she said; adding that 'the quality of life for them and their families is
seriously diminished'. Clinical features of mitochondrial disease include
muscle weakness, learning difficulties, heart disease and blindness, with one
in 6,500 babies so severely affected they die in early infancy.

In additional to ethical reservations, Rees-Mogg also raised concerns
over safety, citing a study in Nature that reported chromosomal abnormalities in 52 percent of embryos created following one
method of mitochondrial transfer. This interpretation contrasted
with that of the study's lead researcher, Dr Shoukhrat Mitalipov,
who stated that the process was, in his view, 'safe enough at this stage to
proceed to clinical trials [in humans]' (reported in BioNews 679).

Ellison confirmed that
a full Parliamentary debate on the issue would take
place.

She also revealed she was 'sure' that a
Parliamentary ruling on mitochondrial donation would be 'decided by votes of
conscience'.