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posted by janrinok on Sunday June 10 2018, @06:48AM   Printer-friendly
from the got-to-start-somewhere dept.

Singapore could become the second country to legalize mitochondrial replacement therapy

This small city state could become the second country—after the United Kingdom—to explicitly legalize mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT), a controversial assisted reproduction technique that allows women who are carriers of some rare genetic disorders to give birth to healthy babies.

Members of the Singaporean public and religious groups have until 15 June to provide their feedback about MRT to the Bioethics Advisory Committee (BAC). Based on its findings, a 13-member BAC review committee will make formal recommendations to the government later this year about whether to legalize the technology.

"Our position is to keep a close watch on what happens in the U.K., to track the U.K. experience, and to learn from what they have done," says Oi Lian Kon, who studies human genetics at the National Cancer Centre Singapore and is leading the BAC review group.

MRT is used to address devastating genetic diseases that arise from abnormalities in the DNA in mitochondria, the cell's power sources, and that commonly affect energy-intensive organs such as the brain and heart, as well as muscles. Children inherit mitochondria only from their mothers; replacing faulty mitochondria in an egg or embryo with normal ones from a donor can result in healthy babies. But it also means that offspring will bear DNA from three "parents," which makes MRT a controversial procedure.

Previously: UK Parliament Gives Three-"Source" IVF the Go-Ahead.
Approval for Three-Parent Embryo Trials
UK's Fertility Regulator Approves Creation of First "Three-Parent" Babies

Related: U.S. Panel Gives Tentative Endorsement to Three-Person IVF
Newcastle University Study Verifies Safety of Three-Person IVF
First Three-Person Baby Born Using Spindle Nuclear Transfer
Baby Girl Born in Ukraine Using Three-Parent Pronuclear Transfer Technique


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Sunday June 10 2018, @07:42AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday June 10 2018, @07:42AM (#691046) Journal

    8:00 AM oil change
    10:00 AM mitochondrial change
    10:00 PM get laid?

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Funny=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Funny' Modifier   0  
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    Total Score:   3