More Parents than Zoidberg
“It’s me, Norm and Sam and Sadie’s boy”
Researchers have produced human embryos containing DNA from three people, a biotechnological proof-of-principle with profound medical and ethical implications.
To accomplish this, chromosomes were taken from one zygote — the single cell formed when sperm and egg fuse — and put into a zygote stripped of its original chromosomes, but left with its original mitochondria, which provide each human cell with energy.
As they grew, the resulting embryos contained so-called nuclear DNA — the 25,000 genes responsible for physical and developmental traits — from two traditional parents, and mitochondrial DNA from a third.
3-Parent Embryos Could Prevent Disease, But Raise Ethical Issues | Wired Science | Wired.com
Previous Post