"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:u83iq3d8vfgnddl8566tsd9hug2ihju95m@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> If this goes any further, we may need genealogy software that allows one
to
> enter three or more parents - and what would a pedigree chart look like
then?
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080205/ap_on_sc/embryo_research
>
> LONDON - British scientists say they have created human embryos
containing
DNA
> from two women and a man in a procedure that researchers hope might be
used
> one day to produce embryos free of inherited diseases.
> ADVERTISEMENT
>
> Though the preliminary research has raised concerns about the
possibility
of
> genetically modified babies, the scientists say that the embryos are
still
> only primarily the product of one man and one woman.
>
> "We are not trying to alter genes, we're just trying to swap a small
> pro****tion of the bad ones for some good ones," said Patrick Chinnery, a
> professor of neurogenetics at Newcastle University involved in the
research.
>
> The research was presented at a scientific conference recently, but has
not
> been published in a scientific journal.
>
> The process aims to create healthy embryos for couples to avoid passing
on
> genes carrying diseases.
>
> The genes being replaced are the mitochondria, a cell's energy source,
which
> are contained outside the nucleus in a normal female egg. Mistakes in
the
> mitochondria's genetic code can result in serious diseases like muscular
> dystrophy, epilepsy, strokes and mental retardation.
>
> In their research, Chinnery and colleagues used normal embryos created
from
> one man and one woman that had defective mitochondria in the woman's
egg.
They
> then transplanted that embryo into an emptied egg donated from a second
woman
> who had healthy mitochondria.
>
> The research is being funded by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, a
British
> charity.
>
> Only trace amounts of a person's genes come from the mitochondria, and
experts
> said it would be incorrect to say that the embryos have three parents.
>
> "Most of the genes that make you who you are are inside the nucleus,"
Chinnery
> said. "We're not going anywhere near that."
>
> So far, 10 such embryos have been created, though they have not been
allowed
> to develop for more than five days. Chinnery hoped that after further
> experiments in the next few years the process might be available to
parents
> undergoing in-vitro fertilization.
>
> "If successful, this research could give families who might otherwise
have
a
> bleak future a chance to avoid some very grave diseases," said Francoise
> Shenfield, a fertility expert with the European Society of Human
Reproduction
> and Embryology. Shenfield was not connected to the Newcastle University
> research.
>
> Similar experiments have been conducted in animals in Japan, and has
already
> led to the birth of healthy mice who had their mitochondria genes
corrected.
>
> Shenfield said that further tests to *****s the safety and efficacy of
the
> process were necessary before it could be offered as a potential
treatment.
>
> A bill to allow the procedure to be regulated as a therapy for couples -
once
> it is proven to work - is expected to be discussed in Britain's House of
> Commons in March.
>
>
> --
> Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
> Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
> Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
> E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full
stop
uk
If the software can represent other instances of 'multiple parents' (as in
birth, foster, and/or adopted) then it wouldn't be a big stretch to cover
this situation. However, I'm aware that even the existing cases are not
widely sup****ted in genealogy programs
Tony Proctor
|
