The controversial question of whether or not scientists should create babies from three people’s genetic material is being talked about. Well, the NASEM recently released a report that illustrated why scientists could indeed do this. However, critics have noted their displeasure, and the FDA has also commented on the matter.
FIRST POINT
The entire point behind this idea is to lessen the amount of children that are born with genetic disorders. However, this research has garnered many critics, and they have some valid points about why it is not a good idea. The critics are saying that this line should not be crossed because the amount of women that could be positively affected by this is small. Also, the director of the Center for Genetics and Society, Marcy Darnovsky, stated that “mission creep” could become very real if this happened.
SECOND POINT
Obviously, one of the biggest problems with this idea, according to the critics of the research, is the fact that children would be receiving DNA from three different people. This leads them to believe that errors in the human gene pool could be introduced and that new diseases could be created. This is a valid concern because if the whole point of this is to prevent diseases, then adding new one’s would deem it pointless. This is undoubtedly the biggest issue, and it is one that would need to be addressed if this ever comes to fruition.
THE FDA COMMENTS
The FDA has commented at this task at hand, and they praised the idea. However, the FDA did state that they can’t use funds to review anything that has to do with human embryos being created. The FDA then said that because of this they could not conduct any research on this, in the United States, at the time. This entire idea will come down to the FDA, and right now it does not look good for the people who want it done.
