"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:u83iq3d8vfgnddl8566tsd9hug2ihju95m@4ax.com... > If this goes any further, we may need genealogy software that allows one to > enter three or more parents - and what would a pedigree chart look like then? > > http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080205/ap_on_sc/embryo_research > > LONDON - British scientists say they have created human embryos containing DNA > from two women and a man in a procedure that researchers hope might be used > one day to produce embryos free of inherited diseases. > ADVERTISEMENT > > Though the preliminary research has raised concerns about the possibility of > genetically modified babies, the scientists say that the embryos are still > only primarily the product of one man and one woman. > > "We are not trying to alter genes, we're just trying to swap a small > proportion of the bad ones for some good ones," said Patrick Chinnery, a > professor of neurogenetics at Newcastle University involved in the research. > > The research was presented at a scientific conference recently, but has not > been published in a scientific journal. > > The process aims to create healthy embryos for couples to avoid passing on > genes carrying diseases. > > The genes being replaced are the mitochondria, a cell's energy source, which > are contained outside the nucleus in a normal female egg. Mistakes in the > mitochondria's genetic code can result in serious diseases like muscular > dystrophy, epilepsy, strokes and mental retardation. > > In their research, Chinnery and colleagues used normal embryos created from > one man and one woman that had defective mitochondria in the woman's egg. They > then transplanted that embryo into an emptied egg donated from a second woman > who had healthy mitochondria. > > The research is being funded by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, a British > charity. > > Only trace amounts of a person's genes come from the mitochondria, and experts > said it would be incorrect to say that the embryos have three parents. > > "Most of the genes that make you who you are are inside the nucleus," Chinnery > said. "We're not going anywhere near that." > > So far, 10 such embryos have been created, though they have not been allowed > to develop for more than five days. Chinnery hoped that after further > experiments in the next few years the process might be available to parents > undergoing in-vitro fertilization. > > "If successful, this research could give families who might otherwise have a > bleak future a chance to avoid some very grave diseases," said Francoise > Shenfield, a fertility expert with the European Society of Human Reproduction > and Embryology. Shenfield was not connected to the Newcastle University > research. > > Similar experiments have been conducted in animals in Japan, and has already > led to the birth of healthy mice who had their mitochondria genes corrected. > > Shenfield said that further tests to assess the safety and efficacy of the > process were necessary before it could be offered as a potential treatment. > > A bill to allow the procedure to be regulated as a therapy for couples - once > it is proven to work - is expected to be discussed in Britain's House of > Commons in March. > > > -- > Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa > Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm > Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com > E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk If the software can represent other instances of 'multiple parents' (as in birth, foster, and/or adopted) then it wouldn't be a big stretch to cover this situation. However, I'm aware that even the existing cases are not widely supported in genealogy programs Tony Proctor