FT News Feed

Mitochondrial donation treatment (MDT) is purported to be a groundbreaking procedure to prevent children from developing incurable diseases. The mitochondria found in virtually all our cells contain 37 extranuclear genes which can carry defects that may lead to vision loss, hearing loss and other neurological and developmental disorders. The United Kingdom first legalized mitochondrial donation in 2016. The work reported recently by the Newcastle Fertility Centre involving the birth of several children with genetic contributions from three parents recasts human embryos as modular constructs to be “assembled-to-order.” Despite the good intentions behind such work, human beings are not products to be manufactured, but gifts to be received, often with various imperfections, from the Creator of life. The 3 parent embryo approach is not a real therapy, but a form of cannibalizing other embryos for parts in order to build an embryo-to-order. Father Tad discusses the history of MDT and some of the ethical quandaries it presents.

Listen here on Ave Maria Radio 

Related columns include:

"The Ethics Of “Correcting” Mitochondrial Disease" 

"Pondering the Implications of Three-Parent Embryos?"