Human Fertilisation and Embryology

Debate between Fiona Bruce and Liz McInnes

Tuesday 3rd February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Bruce]

I want to pick up on the point the hon. Lady makes about mitochondria not affecting characteristics. The Government’s own consultation document acknowledged that diverse characteristics are associated with mitochondria, including learning disabilities, neurological problems and dementia, and that every person’s symptoms are different. Is there not an insurmountable contradiction in saying that this is just like changing a battery if on the one hand one is saying that the aim is to prevent damage to those characteristics, but on the other hand one is saying that the techniques will not affect them at all?

[Liz McInnes]

I did not say it was just like changing a battery. In fact, I try to avoid using that terminology. The hon. Lady mentions learning disabilities, but as I just said, the organs affected the most by mitochondrial disorders are organs that require a large amount of energy, such as the brain, so that comes as no surprise to me.

Allegations have been made that the techniques are not safe.

[Liz McInnes]

No, I will not, because I need to make progress and let other people speak.

Last night, it was my privilege to attend the debate on the safety and ethics of this technique and to hear Professor Doug Turnbull, who leads the research team at Newcastle university, talk about the 15 years of work done by his team and the extensive safety checks that have taken place during those years. In the Chinese case to which my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Robert Flello) referred, the treatment was carried out by an American clinician on a single patient in China. The patient became pregnant with triplets, one of whom was aborted and the other two were born prematurely and died. Importantly, the clinician attributed the outcome entirely to multiple pregnancy and obstetric complications, not to the method of conception. I do not accept that that one case represents a proper clinical trial.

What we have to remember is that mitochondrial disease is a life-limiting debilitating disease, causing severe distress to parents and their affected children. We have here a technique with the ability to alleviate their suffering and to allow affected parents the chance to have a healthy child who is genetically related to them in all aspects apart from a tiny proportion of mitochondrial DNA. The spectre of designer babies can be dismissed. There is no possibility of using this technique to select certain characteristics. It will simply allow mitochondria to function normally and for the child to be free of mitochondrial disease.

[Fiona Bruce]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Liz McInnes]

I will not, no.

In safety, the UK has a robust regulatory framework. A vote in favour of the motion will not in itself open the way for mitochondrial donation to be used in clinics. It will simply enable the HFEA to consider each individual family’s request for treatment on a case-by-case basis, taking expert scientific and medical advice and licensing the procedure only if the evidence shows that that is appropriate.

I am lucky enough to have worked at the Royal Oldham hospital, where the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, was born. When IVF was first introduced, there was no certainty that it was completely safe. Only after the first babies were born using the technique could scientists be completely reassured that their detailed research had led to the birth of healthy babies, but to this day research continues on IVF, just as more research must be done on mitochondrial transfer. That is the nature of science: it is a continuous process; it does not stand still.

For families affected by mitochondrial disease, this research has given them new hope that they may at last have the chance to bear a healthy child of their own. Last night I heard from a woman who suffered from mitochondrial disease, which had also affected her mother. That young woman had taken a considered decision not to have her own children, for fear of passing on the condition. The opportunity to have this treatment presents her and many other women in that situation with new hope. The science is there to alleviate the suffering of affected families, and in my opinion it would be unethical to withhold this treatment. I urge the House to approve the regulations.