A controversial procedure to create babies using sperm and eggs from three people that could prevent major childhood diseases has moved a step closer in the UK.
A public review into the three-person in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique has been broadly supportive, the Department of Health said, citing the nearly 2,000 responses received during public consultations.
But a number of technical and scientific details need to be finalised before the plans go before Parliament, the BBC reported today.
The move would be restricted to mitochondrial disease, affecting one in 6,500 UK babies born each year. This may lead to muscle weakness, blindness, and heart failure.
Using the parents' sperm and eggs plus an additional egg from a donor woman should prevent such conditions, say scientists at Newcastle University.
An expert scientific panel has already suggested there is no evidence the procedure is unsafe but has asked for a number of further investigations to be carried out.
The government expects other details to be finalised in the next few months before the plans are legalised.
Ministers agreed that the regulatory body the Human Fertilisation Embryology Authority would consider each application from parents on a case-by-case basis.
And any children born using the procedure would not be able to find out the identity of the mitochondrial donor.
Mitochondria are tiny, biological "power stations" that provide energy to nearly every cell of the body.
As mitochondria are passed down from mother to child, using an extra egg from a donor woman could give the child healthy mitochondria.
However, it would also result in babies having DNA from two parents and a tiny amount (1 per cent) from the donor as mitochondria have their own DNA.
Opponents say it is unethical and could set the UK on a "slippery slope" to designer babies.
Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said: "There is broad public support for making mitochondrial replacement therapy available to patients.
"There is now no excuse for the Government not to table regulations for debate as soon as Parliament returns this autumn, so that the HFEA can licence clinics to treat affected families without delay once it is satisfied that any risks are acceptable.
