The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 25 began a two-day hearing to determine whether there is sufficient scientific basis to experiment with “three-parent in vitro fertilization” technology in humans. Supporters believe that the technology can eliminate genetic defects and ensure the health of newborns; opponents believe that the technology, once implemented, may lead to unpredictable risks, including ethical crises. The two-day hearing brought together a number of leading researchers in the field of “three-parent in vitro fertilization” technology. According to the schedule, they will present their research to a committee of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The advisors will also hear from opponents of the technology so that the FDA can decide whether the potential risks of the technology will allow clinical testing to begin. The “three-parent IVF” technology focuses on mitochondrial disease. Mitochondria are an organelle found in human and many biological cells and are the site of oxidative metabolism, providing a place for the release of energy from sugars, fats and amino acids through oxidative processes, and serving as the “power station” of the body, so to speak. It is independent of the nucleus and has its own genetic material and genome. Some human eggs have genetic mutations in their mitochondria. At this stage, scientists have identified about 700 mutations in the mitochondrial DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), which can cause recurrent stroke, epilepsy, blindness, deafness, diabetes, necrotizing encephalopathy and other diseases. The Columbia University expert Salvatore? Di Moro described these mutations as a “Pandora’s box” of diseases, and it is not yet possible to diagnose mitochondrial diseases in prenatal. Oregon Health Sciences University biologist Shukhrat? Mitalipov said at the hearing that there is no cure for mitochondrial disease. The Associated Press reported that at this stage, one in 4,000 births in the United States has a genetic disease due to a mitochondrial mutation. Unlike most D N A, mitochondrial D N A is only passed on from mother to child. Scientists hope to “remove” the mitochondria with the genetic mutation and replace them with normal mitochondria. The procedure for “three-parent in vitro fertilization” is that the male father provides the sperm, all of which is used for in vitro fertilization, and the female mother provides the eggs and uses most of the DNA. If the mitochondria in the woman’s cells have harmful mutations, scientists will remove the “unhealthy” mitochondria and replace them with another woman’s mitochondria to ensure that the baby does not develop a mitochondrial disease that could have serious consequences. According to the Associated Press, initial tests on animals have validated the theoretical feasibility of the technique, but some geneticists acknowledge that it could take decades to confirm the safety of the technology. ”The experiments will be over in a few decades.” Michigan State University scientist Keith? Latham said at the hearing, “It’s going to take us so long to figure out if the offspring that come through these steps are healthy.” After the hearing event on the 25th, some members of the FDA committee were concerned that the results of the animal experiments do not yet ensure the safety of the women who receive the technology and the babies they produce. Committee Chairman Evan? In summarizing the committee’s views, Snyder said some committee members believe that the data obtained from animal trials may not be sufficient to support a shift to human testing. According to Reuters, in 2001, researchers “combined” the eggs of infertile women with healthy eggs, successfully fertilizing them and giving birth to babies. But in the last decade or so, the FDA has banned scientists from creating “three-parent embryos,” and scientists have been able to test the technology only on rats, monkeys, cows and other animals. The U.K. health department announced last year that it would develop regulations on “three-parent” assisted reproduction technology. But the regulations have not yet been published and will need legislative approval to take effect when they are completed. The FDA made it clear that the hearing was a “technical” discussion to explore the feasibility of safely implementing the technology in humans from a scientific perspective. In a statement, the FDA acknowledged the existence of “ethical and social policy issues related to genetic modification,” but said they were “outside the scope of the meeting. Featured “designer babies” spark ethical controversy At the hearing, several community representatives urged the FDA to ban any human experimentation involving genetic modification, citing the unpredictable medical, ethical and social implications of these technologies. Some speakers warned that the “three-parent IVF” technique could lead to “designer babies,” in which parents artificially determine a child’s eye color, height and intelligence level, among other things. Marci Darnovsky, head of the Center for Genetics and Society in Berkeley, Calif. If the Food and Drug Administration “gives the green light” to clinical trials of “three-parent IVF” technology, it would be “the first time that a government department has agreed to genetic alterations in humans and their offspring,” said Darnowski. “This means that “a high-tech consumer eugenics system” could emerge. According to Reuters, the “three-parent IVF” technique, which uses healthy mitochondria instead of mutated ones, is not “genetic engineering” as generally understood, and does not make a baby smarter, healthier or more attractive than if it had been born in a normal environment. It does not make a baby smarter, healthier or more attractive than if it had been born in a normal environment. John Gilhart, a member of the FDA committee and a stem cell expert at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said that the media reports of mitochondrial genetic engineering do not make a baby smarter, healthier or more attractive than if it were born in a normal environment. Gearhart said media reports of so-called designer babies send the “wrong message” and “cause the public to completely misunderstand what it (the ‘three-parent IVF’ technique) really is. FDA officials said the agency is ready to reach beyond the scientific evidence for “three-parent IVF” technology.