The UK inches closer toward making babies from three people's DNA

06 Feb 2015 • engadget.com

The UK’s House of Commons overwhelmingly voted in favor of a law that would allow scientists to genetically engineer babies from the DNA of three people. Before your mind wanders to some of the more… salacious possibilities, the technique – a spin on traditional in vitro fertilization – is meant to help women with mitochondrial disease have families without fear of passing the illness down.

… That’s what make this newish procedure so exciting; healthy nuclear DNA is culled from the mother-to-be and transplanted into the egg of a donor. When that egg is fertilized, voilá! You’ve got a baby made from three people.

Wow. Really. But when can I pick a random selection of the best genes from all my friends and run with that? I wonder what things like this will do to the concept of parenthood long term.