The moral argument for three-person babies

If all goes according to plan, the first baby with the DNA of three people will be British, and could be born next year. Mitochondrial transfer could end years of misery for some couples and prevent appalling conditions being passed on to the next generation. Some scientists have raised concerns that it’s such uncharted territory that the babies could be born with disabilities or genetic defects, but the majority are happy that the research has been through necessary reviews. Melanie McDonagh and Isabel Hardman have drawn attention to the breakneck speed with which MPs voted to legalise the procedure. Parliament should act as a national conscience, and we don’t want them essentially outsourcing complex decisions to experts. The Church objected because the process destroys embryos but in the last few decades we’ve become more blasé about that. Arguments about the sanctity of life were lost years ago – trying to bring them up again will have you laughed out of parliament like Nadine Dorries – but it’s still worth having them.