Three-parent babies 'could be a reality within two years' after report finds controversial IVF techniques are 'not unsafe'

• Approach is designed to help families with particular genetic faults who want to avoid passing on devastating incurable diseases to their children
• Expert scientific panel today gave its backing to the controversial techniques
• Concluded they were 'potentially useful' and did not appear to be unsafe 
  

By ANNA HODGEKISS

PUBLISHED: 16:00 GMT, 3 June 2014 | UPDATED: 20:36 GMT, 3 June 2014

Controversial IVF techniques that see babies born with three genetic parents could be available in two years, scientists said today.

The 'three-parent' technique is designed to help families with particular genetic faults who want to avoid passing on devastating incurable diseases to their children. 

Today, an expert scientific panel gave its backing to the approach, declaring it was 'potentially useful' and did not appear to be unsafe - despite fears the move might lead to ‘designer babies’.

But the scientists added there was still more research to be done - some of it 'critical' - before genetically modified embryos could be implanted into women.

The techniques involve replacing defective DNA in the mother’s egg with material from a donor egg. This means the resulting healthy child would effectively have two mothers and a father.

For the first time the ‘germ line’ of inherited DNA from the mother would be altered which, critics say, marks a turning point in the ethics of test-tube babies.

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