UK team hopes to create a human embryo from three donors

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the body that regulates human embryo research in the United Kingdom, has granted a licence to a group at the University of Newcastle to conduct research involving the development of human embryos with genetic material originating from three donors.

The research is designed to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial DNA diseases—hereditary disorders that can seriously impair the brain and other organs and muscles. It will make use of the fact that mitochondria have their own DNA which is inherited only …