Latest news with #DougTurnbull
Sky News
18-07-2025
- Health
- Sky News
Babies born with DNA from three people in the UK - to prevent 'devastating' illness with no cure
Eight babies have been born in the UK with DNA from three people following a procedure to eliminate an incurable inherited disease. It is a major advance for the technique, called mitochondrial donation therapy, designed to prevent a life-limiting, often fatal illness caused by genetic mutations in the structures that generate energy in all our cells. It is also a test of the UK's permissive but highly regulated stance on human embryo research that allowed a technique once criticised for creating "three-parent babies" to proceed. The babies, four girls and four boys - two of them identical twins - were all born in the last five years and are healthy, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "It's a great success for these families," said Sir Doug Turnbull, emeritus professor at the University of Newcastle, who helped pioneer the treatment. "This is a devastating disease with no cure and without this technique, they would not feel that their families were free of mitochondrial disease. This gives them that opportunity." Mitochondrial disease affects around one in 5,000 babies born in the UK. Depending on the number and type of mutations in their mitochondria, the severity and type of disease can vary, but includes neurological, metabolic and developmental disorders. Only women at high risk of passing on severe disease qualify for the procedure, provided though a specialist facility at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The identities of the seven families and their babies are being withheld, but a mother of one of the baby boys speaking anonymously said: "The emotional burden of mitochondrial disease has been lifted, and in its place is hope, joy, and deep gratitude." How does the technique work? The procedure involves removing the genetic information from an affected mother's fertilised embryo before inserting it into one from a healthy female donor, from which the genetic information has been removed. Crucially, the hundreds of thousands of diseased mitochondria are left behind, leaving the new embryo with healthy ones present in the donor embryo. Mitochondria contain a tiny amount of their own unique genetic code, so the resulting babies carry DNA from three different people. But because it represents just 0.02% of our total DNA and has no bearing on genetic traits we inherit from our parents, researchers behind the technique, have never liked the "three-parent" moniker. However, the technique - whatever you choose to call it - isn't perfect. A total of 22 women underwent the procedure but only seven became pregnant, resulting in eight births - a 36% success rate. Five of the eight babies were born with no trace of disease. But tests on the other three revealed a small percentage of mutated mitochondria had been carried over during the procedure. While they are at levels too low to cause mitochondrial disease, the babies will require careful follow-ups to ensure they continue to develop normally. "We have designed a study specifically for that purpose," said Professor Bobby McFarland, who leads the service in Newcastle. "That's what is unique about us offering this in Newcastle because there isn't anywhere else in the world that's doing this in a regulated way." While there's good reason to expect the children will develop normally, the procedure does take medicine into new territory. Because mitochondria contain their own genetic code, girls born via the technique - carrying those from the healthy donor - will pass that on to any children they may have in future. Changing the "germ-line" in such a way has raised ethical concerns. But for seven new families, and more to follow, the procedure promises to cure a disease that has affected their families for generations.
Metro
17-07-2025
- Health
- Metro
What are 'three-parent babies' and how does the IVF treatment work?
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Eight healthy babies have been born in the UK using a groundbreaking three-person IVF technique. The four boys and four girls, including a set of identical twins, are all doing well after delivery, with one other woman currently pregnant. This new scientific method, pioneered by a team in Newcastle, is designed to prevent children from being born with mitochondrial diseases which could have been passed down to them from their mothers. Most importantly, thanks to the IVF technique, none of the eight babies show signs of having mitochondrial DNA disease, which usually affects around one in 5,000 births. Professor Sir Doug Turnbull is part of the Newcastle University research team which came up with the method. He explained: 'Mitochondrial disease can have a devastating impact on families. 'Today's news offers fresh hope to many more women at risk of passing on this condition who now have the chance to have children growing up without this terrible disease.' The babies will all be tested at 18-months-old and again aged five to ensure they are still developing normally and have no signs of mitochondrial disease. Professor Bobby McFarland, director of the NHS Highly Specialised Service for Rare Mitochondrial Disorders at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said he was confident the babies will continue to develop normally. He added: 'If we're not picking up subtle signs of problems at five, then we're really very clear that is not going to be a problem. 'In my work…I see children in intensive care units up and down this country and that's not pleasant. 'It's very difficult for families to deal with these diseases, they are devastating, so to see babies born at the end of this is just amazing really.' This three-person IVF technique, called pronuclear transfer (PNT), involves taking the egg from an affected mother, sperm from her partner and an egg from a donor who is free from disease. After the egg is fertilised, scientists transplanted the nuclear genome from the egg carrying the mitochondrial DNA mutation into an egg donated by an unaffected woman that had had its nuclear genome removed. The nuclear genome from the mum contains all the genes essential for a person's characteristics, such as hair colour and height. The procedure means the baby will inherit its parents' nuclear DNA, but the mitochondrial DNA is mainly inherited from the donated egg. IVF is a fertility treatment designed to help people get pregnant and have children. A woman's eggs are fertilised with sperm in a laboratory, and the embryo is then placed into the womb. A full cycle of IVF takes between three to six weeks to complete, usually following six steps, and involves eggs being collected and fertilised before the embryo is implanted back into the womb. Thanks to scientific progress in this area, parliament changed the law in 2015 to allow mitochondrial donation treatment. By 2017, the Newcastle Fertility Centre became the first and only national centre allowed to perform PNT. Approval is given on a case-by-case basis by the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). The chance of success with IVF can depend on many factors, such as: What is causing your fertility problems Your age Your body mass index Whether you smoke or drink alcohol If you are aged 39 or under, you could be eligible for three full IVF cycles, and if aged between 40 and 42 you could receive one full cycle paid for by the NHS. The eligibility criteria could be different depending on where you live in the UK, as different integrated care boards use different guidelines to make these decisions. If not eligible under the NHS, there are private clinics which can offer paid-for IVF treatment. Peter Thompson, chief executive of the HFEA, said: 'Ten years ago, the UK was the first country in the world to licence mitochondrial donation treatment to avoid passing the condition to children. 'For the first time, families with severe inherited mitochondrial illness have the possibility of a healthy child. 'Although it's still early days, it is wonderful news that mitochondrial donation treatment has led to eight babies being born. 'Only people who are at a very high risk of passing a serious mitochondrial disease onto their children are eligible for this treatment in the UK, and every application for mitochondrial donation treatment is individually assessed in accordance with the law.' Mitochondrial disease is a complex illness where the mitochondria in the body's cells do not produce enough energy. The mitochondria is like the power station of our cells, providing the energy needed for our tissues and organs to work properly. More Trending Each person with the disease is affected differently because there is a huge variety in how many cells are affected and where they are in the body. Some specific illnesses, such as Alper's disease, Leigh's disease, MELAS and MERRF, occur when the same areas of the body are affected in the same way by the disease. There is no cure for mitochondrial disease, and treatment is designed to relieve symptoms. If sufferers develop another disease, increasing stress on their body's metabolism, their mitochondrial disease could get worse due to the extra stress put on cells. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: All the dangers of 'slushies' after under-sevens warned not to drink them MORE: Urgent recall for mushrooms over fears they're tainted with deadly bacteria MORE: Child dies from measles amid warnings disease could 'spread like wildfire'
Daily Mirror
16-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Eight babies born in UK with DNA from three people to prevent devastating disease
The scientific method, known as mitochondrial donation treatment, is designed to prevent children from being born with devastating mitochondrial diseases that are passed down from their mothers Eight infants have been born in the UK due to a revolutionary three-person IVF technique aimed at preventing severe disease, according to world-first data. Four boys and four girls, including one pair of identical twins, are all thriving after being delivered by a Newcastle-based team who spearheaded the technique. Another woman is also currently expecting. The scientific procedure, known as mitochondrial donation treatment, is intended to stop children from inheriting debilitating mitochondrial diseases from their mothers. These conditions can be lethal and often inflict catastrophic damage to organs such as the brain, muscle, liver, heart and kidney. Among the eight babies born, three are now under six months old, two are between six to 12 months, one is 12 to 18 months old, one is aged 18 to 24 months and one child is over two years old. All the infants are healthy and hitting their milestones, as per the team from Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle University and Newcastle Fertility Centre. None of the eight babies display symptoms of mitochondrial DNA disease, which typically affects around one in 5,000 births. The researchers will also assess the children when they reach the age of five. The scientists stated that disease-causing mitochondrial DNA mutations, identified in three of the children, are either undetectable or present at levels that are highly unlikely to cause disease. The primary technique employed by the researchers, known as pronuclear transfer (PNT), involves utilising an egg from the mother with the condition, sperm from her partner, and an egg from a healthy donor. One elated mother, whose daughter was born via mitochondrial donation, expressed: "As parents, all we ever wanted was to give our child a healthy start in life. Mitochondrial donation IVF made that possible. After years of uncertainty, this treatment gave us hope – and then it gave us our baby." She continued, sharing her joy: "We look at them now, full of life and possibility, and we're overwhelmed with gratitude. Science gave us a chance." Another mother, celebrating the birth of her son, remarked: "We are now proud parents to a healthy baby, a true mitochondrial replacement success. This breakthrough has lifted the heavy cloud of fear that once loomed over us. Thanks to this incredible advancement and the support we received, our little family is complete. "The emotional burden of mitochondrial disease has been lifted, and in its place is hope, joy, and deep gratitude." Professor Sir Doug Turnbull of Newcastle University, a key figure in the research team, commented: "Mitochondrial disease can have a devastating impact on families." He highlighted the significance of the recent developments: "Today's news offers fresh hope to many more women at risk of passing on this condition who now have the chance to have children growing up without this terrible disease." In each instance, the Newcastle-based team applied the PNT method post-fertilisation of the egg. In this process, scientists transplant the nuclear genome (which houses all the genes crucial for a person's traits, such as hair colour and height) from the egg carrying the mitochondrial DNA mutation into an egg donated by an unaffected woman, which has had its nuclear genome removed. As a result of this procedure, the baby inherits its parents' nuclear DNA, but the mitochondrial DNA is primarily inherited from the donated egg. Scientific advancements in this field led to a change in law by Parliament in 2015, allowing mitochondrial donation treatment. Two years on, the Newcastle clinic emerged as the first and only national centre licensed to perform it, with the initial cases approved in 2018. The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) grants approval on a case-by-case basis. Professor Bobby McFarland, director of the NHS Highly Specialised Service for Rare Mitochondrial Disorders at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, expressed confidence that the children would continue to develop normally. He continued: "If we're not picking up subtle signs of problems at five, then we're really very clear that is not going to be a problem. In my work...I see children in intensive care units up and down this country and that's not pleasant. "It's very difficult for families to deal with these diseases, they are devastating.. To see babies born at the end of this is just amazing really." Mary Herbert, professor of reproductive biology at Newcastle University, commented: "PNT happens in the small hours of the morning – those long nights. And it has paid off. It's fair to say it's rewarding. In science though, periods of joy are fleeting and brief because you're always thinking what is the next challenge? How do we optimise it further?" She explained that the minor DNA mutations observed in three of the children are "way, way below the threshold that would cause disease". Peter Thompson, chief executive of the HFEA, stated: "Ten years ago, the UK was the first country in the world to licence mitochondrial donation treatment to avoid passing the condition to children. "For the first time, families with severe inherited mitochondrial illness have the possibility of a healthy child. Although it's still early days, it is wonderful news that mitochondrial donation treatment has led to eight babies being born. "Only people who are at a very high risk of passing a serious mitochondrial disease onto their children are eligible for this treatment in the UK, and every application for mitochondrial donation treatment is individually assessed in accordance with the law." Dr Andy Greenfield, hailing from the University of Oxford, hailed the breakthrough: "It is a triumph of scientific innovation in the IVF clinic – a world-first that shows that the UK is an excellent environment in which to push boundaries in IVF; a tour de force by the embryologists who painstakingly developed and optimised the micromanipulation methods; an example of the value of clinical expertise, developed over decades of working with children and adults suffering from these devastating diseases, being used to support a new intervention and subsequent follow-up, potentially for many years." Beth Thompson, Wellcome's executive director for policy and partnerships, enthused: "This is a remarkable scientific achievement, which has been years in the making." She further celebrated the impact of the research, stating: "The pioneering work behind mitochondrial donation is a powerful example of how discovery research can change lives."
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Babies born in UK with DNA from three people to treat inherited disease takes medicine into uncharted territory
Eight babies have been born in the UK with DNA from three people following a procedure to eliminate an incurable inherited disease. It is a major advance for the technique, called mitochondrial donation therapy, designed to prevent a life-limiting, often fatal, illness caused by genetic mutations in the structures that generate energy in all our cells. It is also a test of the UK's permissive, but highly regulated, stance on human embryo research that allowed a technique once criticised for creating "three-parent babies" to proceed. The babies, four girls and four boys - two of them identical twins - were all born in the last five years and are healthy, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "It's a great success for these families," said Sir Doug Turnbull, emeritus professor at the University of Newcastle who helped pioneer the treatment. "This is a devastating disease with no cure and without this technique, they would not feel that their families were free of mitochondrial disease. This gives them that opportunity." Mitochondrial disease affects around one in 5,000 babies born in the UK. Depending on the number and type of mutations in their mitochondria, the severity and type of disease can vary, but includes neurological, metabolic and developmental disorders. Only women at high risk of passing on severe disease qualify for the procedure, provided though a specialist facility at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The identities of the seven families and their babies are being withheld, but a mother of one of the baby boys speaking anonymously said: "The emotional burden of mitochondrial disease has been lifted, and in its place is hope, joy, and deep gratitude." How does the technique work? The procedure involves removing the genetic information from an affected mother's fertilised embryo before inserting it into one from a healthy female donor, from which the genetic information has been removed. Crucially, the hundreds of thousands of diseased mitochondria are left behind, leaving the new embryo with healthy ones present in the donor embryo. Mitochondria contain a tiny amount of their own unique genetic code, so the resulting babies carry DNA from three different people. But because it represents just 0.02% of our total DNA and has no bearing on genetic traits we inherit from our parents, researchers behind the technique, have never liked the "three-parent" moniker. However, the technique - whatever you choose to call it - isn't perfect. A total of 22 women underwent the procedure but only seven became pregnant, resulting in eight births - a 36% success rate. Five of the eight babies were born with no trace of disease. But tests on the other three revealed a small percentage of mutated mitochondria had been carried over during the procedure. Read more from Sky News: While they are at levels too low to cause mitochondrial disease, the babies will require careful follow-ups to ensure they continue to develop normally. "We have designed a study specifically for that purpose," said Professor Bobby McFarland, who leads the service in Newcastle. "That's what is unique about us offering this in Newcastle because there isn't anywhere else in the world that's doing this in a regulated way." While there's good reason to expect the children will develop normally, the procedure does take medicine into new territory. Because mitochondria contain their own genetic code, girls born via the technique will pass that on to any children they may have in future. Changing the "germ-line" in such a way has raised ethical concerns. But for seven new families, and more to follow, the procedure promises to cure a disease that has affected their families for generations.
The Guardian
16-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Eight healthy babies born after IVF using DNA from three people
Doctors in the UK have announced the birth of eight healthy babies after performing a groundbreaking procedure that creates IVF embryos with DNA from three people to prevent the children from inheriting incurable genetic disorders. The mothers were all high risk for passing on life-threatening diseases to their babies due to mutations in their mitochondria, the tiny structures that sit inside cells and provide the power they need to function. News of the births and the children's health has been long-anticipated by doctors around the world after the UK changed the law to allow the procedure in 2015. The fertility regulator granted the first licence in 2017 to a fertility clinic at Newcastle University where doctors pioneered the technique. The four boys and four girls, including one set of identical twins, were born to seven women and have no signs of the mitochondrial diseases they were at risk of inheriting. One further pregnancy is ongoing. Prof Doug Turnbull, who was part of the team that spent more than two decades developing the procedure, said the healthy births were reassuring for researchers and the families affected. 'You are inevitably thinking it's great for the patients and that is a relief,' he said. Prof Mary Herbert, another senior member of the team, said to have eight healthy babies from the procedure was 'rewarding for all of us'. The vast majority of a human's 20,000 genes are curled up in the nucleus of nearly every cell in the body. But the fluid surrounding the nucleus contains hundreds to thousands of mitochondria that carry their own set of 37 genes. Mutations in these genes can impair or completely disable mitochondria with catastrophic effects. People inherit all their mitochondria from their biological mother. Mutations in the tiny battery-like structures can affect all the children a woman has. The first symptoms of mitochondrial disease tend to appear in early childhood as energy-hungry organs such as the brain, heart and muscles start to fail. Many affected children have developmental delays, require wheelchairs and die young. About one in 5,000 newborns are affected. Mitochondrial donation treatment, or MDT, aims to prevent children from inheriting mutated mitochondria. The procedure involves fertilising the mother's egg with the father's sperm and then transferring the genetic material from the nucleus into a fertilised healthy donor egg that has had its own nucleus removed. This creates a fertilised egg with a full set of chromosomes from the parents, but healthy mitochondria from the donor. The egg is then implanted into the womb to establish a pregnancy. The first eight babies born to the procedure are described in two papers in the New England Journal of Medicine. All eight were healthy at birth. One child developed a urinary infection that was treated, and another developed muscle jerks that resolved on their own. A third child developed high blood fat and a disturbance in their heart rhythm, which was also treated. The condition is thought to be related to a medical issue the mother had in pregnancy. Genetic tests showed that the babies had no or low levels of mutant mitochondria, with some carried over from the mother during the procedure. While the levels are considered too low to cause disease, it suggests the procedure could still be improved. 'All the children are well and they're continuing to meet their developmental milestones,' said Bobby McFarland, director of the NHS Highly Specialised Service for Rare Mitochondrial Disorders at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Five of the children are less than a year old, two are aged between one and two, and the other child is older. The mother of one of the girls said: 'As parents, all we ever wanted was to give our child a healthy start in life. After years of uncertainty this treatment gave us hope – and then it gave us our baby … we're overwhelmed with gratitude. Science gave us a chance.' Some women who carry the genetic disorders produce eggs with varying levels of faulty mitochondria. For them, a technique called pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT) can be used to select eggs for IVF that have a very low chance of passing on a disease. Other women do not have this choice because all their eggs have high levels of mutations. The Newcastle team said 8 of 22 (36%) of women became pregnant after MDT and 16 of 39 (41%) of women became pregnant after PGT. It is unclear why the rates differed, but some mitochondrial mutations may have knock-on effects on fertility. Writing in an accompanying editorial, Robin Lovell-Badge, a principal group leader at the Francis Crick Institute in London, said the long road to this point had 'no doubt been frustrating to women at risk of having children with mtDNA disease', but praised the scientists' cautious approach.
