MEDICAL REVOLUTION : ''THREE -PERSON- BABY''

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) being performed by a fertility doctor

A team of Greek and Spanish doctors announced last Thursday the birth of a baby using DNA from three people after a controversial fertility treatment that has provoked intense ethical debate.

The team used an egg from the infertile brother, the father's sperm and another women's egg to conceive the baby boy, transferring genetic material with chromosomes from the mother to the egg of a donor whose own general material had been removed in a process its creators hailed as a medical  ''revolution''.

A similar DNA-switching technique was used in Mexico in 2016 to avoid transmission of a mother's  hereditary illness in her child.

But the case in Greece is the first time an IVP [in vitro fertilisation] technique using DNA from three people has been deployed to allow a mother otherwise unable to conceive to have a child.

The baby, born last Thursday and weighing in at 2,96 kilo [6.5 pounds] was delivered by a 32-year old Greek woman who had undergone several unsuccessful attempts at in vitro fertilisation, Greece's Institute of Life said in a statement.

Institute of Life president Dr. Panagiotis Psathas, stated : ''Today, for the first time in the world, a woman's inalienable right to become a  mother with her own genetic material became a reality.

''As Greek scientists, we are very proud to announce an international innovation in assisted reproduction, and we are now in a position to make it possible for women with multiple IVF failures or rare mitochondrial genetic diseases to have a healthy child.''

Dr. Psathas added : ''Our commitment to continue to help even more couples facing fertility issues to have children with their own DNA, without having recourse to egg donors.''

''Will help countless women''
His scientific collaborator of the  Institute of Life, Dr. Nuno Costa Borges, also hailed the news.

''The completely successful and  safe implementation of the Maternal of the Maternal Spindle Transfer method - for the first time in medical history - is a revolution in assisted reproduction,'' Dr. Costa-Borges said.

He added that  ''this exceptional result will help countless woman to realise their dream of becoming mothers with their own genetic material.''  [Agencies]