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Disease-free designer babies with DNA from three parents 'could be here within three years' Fiona Macrae Designer babies with three parents could be born in Britain within three years. The controversial technique screens an embryo created by a man and a woman for incurable genetic diseases. Any defective DNA is then replaced with that from another woman - effectively giving the baby two mothers and a father. Scientists at Newcastle University have already created embryos using the method and are perfecting it for use in IVF clinics. They say it could free children from diseases including some forms of diabetes, blindness and heart problems. But critics say this could lead to genetically-modified babies being designed to order. The law states embryos created using the technique must be destroyed, although the scientists hope this can be overturned. The research focuses on mitochondria - 'batteries' inside cells which turn food into energy. Each mitochondrion has its own DNA which is passed from mother to child. Defects in this DNA affect more than one in 5,000 babies and cause around 50 genetic diseases, some of which kill before adulthood. The researchers have managed to swop the damaged DNA with healthy genetic material.
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