The First Baby in the World Was Born from Three Parents, of Which 2

On January 5 last, the baby had three parents of the first infertile couple in the world born in Ukraine. This article explains the key facts and context behind pronuclear transfer.

Key Facts About Pronuclear Transfer

The fact that a child is born with DNA from three people remains a controversial issue in many parts of the world but has been accepted in the UK. Last year, in Mexico a baby was also born with this new medical technique to avoid her mother's inherited Leigh disease. And this is the first time this technique has been used in the treatment of infertility.

In this case, the mother tried to conceive by conventional. IVF techniques 4 times during 10 years but failed. There have been times when the embryos have successfully fertilized but stop growing before they are put into the mother's womb.

Artificial insemination technique

Why Pronuclear Transfer Matters

Researcher Valery Zukin led a research group at the Nadiya Institute (Kiev) that helped the couple conceive with a special IVF technique called ". Pronuclear transfer " .

Zukin and his team used the mother's egg and the father's sperm to fertilize in vitro and then transferred the nucleus to the cytoplasm from another woman's egg. The embryo is then implanted in the mother's uterus. So the child is born with the genetic characteristics of both parents, along with mitochondrial DNA (a cell organelle) from the female to the embryo.

" It's like opening a new era,". Zukin said.

Zukin's group conducted genetic tests on babies born (with IVF technology) in Kiev, and they were completely normal. Zukin is also waiting for the birth of a child with three parents, who will be born around March, from a female infertile patient for seven years.

The technique of " Pronuclear transfer " and the donation of mitochondria can give hope to millions of infertile people becoming parents worldwide.