Researchers have been able to create fertilized human embryos containing nuclear DNA from a man and a woman and mitochondrial DNA from a second woman. Some women have difficulty becoming genetic parents due to mitochondrial DNA disorders, and the technology may allow these women to nevertheless become genetic parents by using the mitochondrial DNA of a donor. I have termed the arrangement fractional parenthood since a resulting child would have contributions from three genetic parents rather than two.
The UK's Nuffield Council on Bioethics says the procedure is ethically permissible in research contexts, but the Council would likely resist my description of the technology as creating fractional parenthood. According to an article in New Scientist, the Council "points out that just 0.1 per cent of the child's DNA would come from the donor. It would repair mitochondria but make a negligible contribution to the characteristics of the child, so it would be legally and biologically inaccurate to refer to such a donor as a 'third parent'."
There certainly are practical reasons for the Council to take that position. In reality, of course, "parent" is not a clearly defined term for biologists or lawyers, and the technology will surely raise issues that haven't been seen before (namely, having more than two genetic parents). I'm all in favor of the procedure when it becomes safe and effective, but there's no need to pretend that we have clear categories of parenthood when surely parenthood falls along a spectrum. For more of my thoughts on the topic, see here.
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