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‘Three-Parent Babies’ vs. ‘Three-Person Babies’ : Analysis on UK’s regulations on mitochondrial donation

  • Journal of the Korea Bioethics Association
  • 2015, 16(2), pp.49-66
  • Publisher : The Korean Bioethics Association
  • Research Area : Interdisciplinary Studies > Interdisciplinary Research

Daecheong Ha 1 Seunghyun Cha 1 김근 1 이연호 1 Su Jin Baik 1 Myunghee Kim 1

1(재) 국가생명윤리정책연구원

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to explore the UK’s new regulations on mitochondrial donation which came into force in october this year after long and contentious debates. For the first time in history, the law called ‘The Human Fertilization and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015’ allows mitochondrial replacement using IVF(In Vitro Fertilization) to prevent the transfer of serious mitochondrial disease from mother to child. This paper firstly shows what the mitochondrial replacement technologies are and why those have been desperately demanded by patient groups. And then it examines into major bioethical issues surrounding these technologies. Next, it analyses how this law addressed those difficult issues such as potential risks, parenthood and right to know, which finally illuminates how this law redefines ‘genetic modification’ and interprets the potential risks of those technologies to avoid ethical controversies. In the end, it investigates what issues still remain after the enforcement, and what additional problems we have to address in the different legal and cultural settings of South Korea from those of UK.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.