House of Lords set to vote on three-parent babies

Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies is in favour of allowing triple-DNA babies.

Peers will vote today on historic legislation which would see the UK become the first country in the world to allow creation of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) babies using DNA from three different people.

The chief medical officer for England Dame Sally Davies has urged the House of Lords to approve the amendment to the 2008 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act and permit the controversial procedures, aimed at preventing serious inherited mitochondrial diseases.

MPs, including all three main party leaders, voted earlier this month in the Commons to legalise the mitochondrial donation technique, which critics say will lead to "three-parent babies".

Opponents, including church leaders and pro-life groups, have warned that the change has been brought about too hastily and marked the start of a "slippery slope" towards designer babies and eugenics.

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House of Lords set to vote on three-parent babies