Doctors granted licence to create the first three-parent baby in the UK

British doctors have been granted permission to create babies from two women and one man for the first time ever.

The licence, which was granted to doctors in Newcastle, will see IVF being used to prevent genetic diseases.

Specifically the procedure will protect against mitochondrial diseases, which can leave sufferers with insufficient energy to keep their heart beating.

Responding to the news, medics at the Newcastle Fertility Centre hailed it as a ‘momentous day’ and said that the first child to be created from the pioneering treatment could be born by the end of 2018.

Mitochondrial disease is only passed down from the mother – but the new technique aims to prevent this by mixing the mother’s egg with the unaffected egg of a donor, along with their father’s sperm.

The child will have a tiny amount of the donor’s DNA – but it the technique has been found to be ethically and scientifically sound.

Prof Sir Doug Turnbull, the director of the Wellcome Centre for mitochondrial research at Newcastle University, said: ‘I am delighted for patients as this will allow women with mitochondria DNA mutations the opportunity for more reproductive choice.

‘Mitochondria diseases can be devastating for families affected and this is a momentous day for patients who have tirelessly campaigned for this decision.’

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The disease is caused by defective mitochondria – the tiny structures that exist in every cell which convert food into energy.

It affects one in 4,300 births – and can cause muscle weakness, blindness, learning disabilities, heart and liver failure, deafness and seizures and can also prove to be fatal.

However, the new technique will see the healthy mitochondria being provided by the donor, preventing the condition from being passed down.