Medical ethics

Q&A: Three-parent embryos

Last updated: 5 February 2008

What is being proposed?

Scientists are working on a way of transplanting the nucleus of a fertilised egg - containing most of the genetic information for the resulting child - into an unfertilised egg that has had its nucleus removed. This egg would be donated by another woman - hence the creation of a child with three genetic parents.

Why do scientists want to do this?