The Three Parent Baby

Abrahim Hassan’s birth certificate reads: Date of birth: April 6 2016 Place of birth: Jordan Sex: Male Mother: Ibtisam Shaban Father: Mahmoud Hassan

Although this is a seemingly ordinary birth certificate, Abrahim Hassan is no ordinary boy. He is the world’s first baby with DNA from three biological parents. The “three-parent” technique prevents genetic diseases being passed from mother to child. Abrahim’s mother, Ibtisam Shaban, carries genes for the mitochondrial DNA-associated type of Leigh Syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects the developing nervous system and usually results in infant mortality. She is not affected as she is only a carrier of the disorder, but being a carrier has meant she has passed the disorder on to her previous children. It has meant that the couple have suffered four miscarriages and lost two children; one aged six and another aged eight months. The couple sought out the help of John Zhang and his team at the New Hope Fertility Centre in New York. The “three-parent” procedure, involved taking the healthy nucleus from one of Shaban’s eggs, and implanting it into a donor egg that had had its nucleus removed, but with the donor’s healthy mitochondrial DNA remaining. The resulting egg, carrying genetic material from both women, was then fertilised with Hassan’s sperm, and implanted in Shaban. Abrahim was born nine months later. Estimates suggest 150 “threeparent” babies could be born each year through this process. However, this has caused much controversy. Supporters of the procedure insist that the mitochondrial DNA does not change a person’s gender, appearance (i.e. height or eye colour) or intelligence, therefore it does not fundamentally affect what makes the person who they are. Although the counter-argument is that this cannot be proved for certain. Frank Dobson, a former UK Health Secretary, argued uncertainty was “the nature of medicine and science” and that IVF would not have gone ahead if one hundred percent certainty was needed. Human Genetics Alert, an independent public interest watchdog group in London, warn that this is all very well, but it could open the door to further genetic modification of children, leading to “designer babies”, genetically modified for traits like beauty, and intelligence. The “three-parent” technique has only been legally approved in the UK so far. It received this approval, with MPs voting in favour, in February 2015. At first, the Anglican Church in England did not support it as they claimed the procedure to be unethical, as it destroys embryos. The Catholic Church shared this view. However, since the technique was legally approved, Bishop of Swindon, Dr Lee Rayfield, said “If the safeguards are there, the Church of England will be behind this.” David Cameron, the UK Prime Minister at the time of this legal decision, said “We’re not playing God here, we’re just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one.”

Whilst this technique has caused an ethical debate, with an underlying argument of whether it is right or wrong, Dr Gillian Lockwood, a reproductive ethicist has stressed that “The biggest problem is that this has been described as three-parent IVF. In fact it is 2.001-parent IVF”, i.e. less than one tenth of one percent of a person’s genetic material is actually affected by this technique. Whether Abrahim Hassan is a “three-parent”, or a “2.001” baby, his parents are hugely grateful for having a healthy child without Leigh Syndrome - and the usually fatal childhood prognosis associated with having this genetic disorder. Anna M (Year 11)