SCIENTISTS at a North-East university have applied to carry out the UK’s first procedure which will allow a baby to be born with DNA from three parents.

A team at Newcastle University, which pioneered the experimental technique, have confirmed they will apply within the next 24 hours for a license to carry out the country’s first mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) procedures, following a historic decision by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to allow the technique.

University scientists say they already have women lined up for the therapy, in which children born by IVF would receive a tiny amount of DNA from an egg donor alongside that of their mother and father.

The team hopes to treat up to 25 women a year with NHS funding and is appealing for potential egg donors to come forward from across the region.

Professor Mary Herbert from the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Disease at Newcastle University and the Newcastle Fertility Centre, said: “It is enormously gratifying that our many years of research in this area can finally be applied to help families affected by these devastating diseases.

“The development of the new techniques depended entirely on the willingness of women in the North East to donate their eggs for research. Our research to improve the techniques further is still ongoing and we will continue to need donated eggs for this.

“Importantly, now that that we are moving forward towards clinical treatments, we will also need donors to donate eggs for use in treatment to prevent affected women transmitting disease to their children.”

Fertility doctors carrying out the treatment will aim to replace abnormal genes in the mitochondria.

Mitochondria only hold around 0.1 per cent of a person’s DNA and has no influence over individual characteristics such as appearance and personality.

Faulty mitochondrial DNA can lead to a wide range of potentially fatal conditions affecting vital organs, muscles, vision, growth and mental ability.

The process agreed yesterday would allow doctors to remove faulty mitochondria and substitute healthy versions from a donor. The result is an embryo containing healthy mitochondria from the donor and nuclear DNA from the baby’s parents.

In theory, mitochondrial replacement can not only prevent a child developing inherited diseases, but also protect future generations.

Critics say the technique is not fool-proof and small numbers of faulty mitochondria may still be “carried over” into the child.

n Building a family – Page 14