London (CNN) - The United Kingdom took a step Friday to be the first country in the world that allows a pioneering IVF technique with DNA from three people who could prevent mitochondrial diseases, but also raises important ethical questions .
One in every 6,500 babies in the UK is born with a mitochondrial disorder, which can lead to serious health problems, like heart disease and liver, respiratory problems and muscular dystrophy.
Problems with mitochondria, the cells 'powerful' of the body, are inherited from the mother, so the proposed IVF treatment affected mean a woman can have a baby without passing on mitochondrial disease.
But the technique of cutting-edge IVF, which involves the transfer of nuclear genetic material from the egg or embryo of a mother in a donor egg or embryo that has had its nuclear DNA removed, raises ethical questions.
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The new embryo contain nuclear DNA of the father and intended mother and healthy mitochondrial DNA donor embryo - creating a baby "three parents".
The amount of donor DNA in mitochondria will, however, be much lower than the parental DNA in the nucleus, which determines the characteristics of the baby.
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The UK government plans to hold consultations on the draft regulations for fertility treatment later this year, with the intention to bring the measure to Parliament next year. For now, only the eggs and embryos unchanged can be used for in vitro fertilization.
"Mitochondrial disease, including heart disease, liver disease, loss of muscle coordination and other serious diseases such as muscular dystrophy, can have a devastating impact on people who inherit" said UK medical director, Professor Dame Cathedral Sally Davies.
Because scientists have developed "new and innovative procedures" that could prevent these diseases in the impact, Davies said, "it is right that we look to introduce this life-saving treatment, as soon as we can."
The government says the public consultation shows there is "full support" for treatment.
But Dr. David King, director of Human Genetics Alert, a vigilante group based in London, opposed use of the technique Friday - saying it opened the door to the creation of "designer babies" - and questioned the results public consultation, saying that not enough weight is given to online voting.
"These techniques are unnecessary and insecure and are in fact rejected by the majority of responses to the consultation," he said in a statement.
"It is a disaster that the decision to cross the line that eventually will lead to a market designer baby eugenics should be made on the basis of a totally biased and inadequate consultation."
The king told CNN the conventional egg donation and allows the mother to have a child without going through a mitochondrial disorder, so that the benefit of the new technique would only be for the baby to be genetically related to her.
"Although I can understand that this is not a medical benefit to anyone - and you have to weigh the risks of invasive techniques that will clearly a risk to the child," he said.
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There is also a "risk to society in general," he said, because once the ethical line on the modification of human DNA has been crossed, the door opened to "the next step and the next step after that."
"That's why governments around the world over the last 20 years have said 'we will not allow genetically modified humans'" he said.
Even if approved by lawmakers, more research is needed to ensure that the procedure actually works in humans and can be carried out safely, said King.
The Government's announcement Friday brought a lot of Spanish headlines - and probably will continue to divide the scientific community.
The British Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which conducted a six-month investigation about the ethical aspects of the technique, concluded that the health and social benefits of the free-living mitochondrial diseases means that "on balance ... if these new techniques has proven to be acceptably adequately safe and effective as treatments, it would be ethical for families to use them. "
The working group concluded that "mitochondrial donation does not indicate, whether biological or legal, any notion that the child is either a" third parent "or" second mother "."
However, the University of Notre Dame law professor O. Carter Snead, a bioethicist who specializes in the management of science, medicine and biotechnology, urged the United Kingdom to "proceed slowly and cautiously" given the "unresolved security and ethical issues" surrounding the new technique .
"Little is known about the genetic effects of short and long term of this procedure in children born with their aid," he said. "It would be an ironic tragedy if this procedure were moved from bench to bedside, only to harm the very children it was meant to help.
"On the other hand, there are still serious questions about the ethics of conceiving children with three genetic parents or parents." "
