Aspectos jurídicos de las técnicas de sustitución mitocondrial en medicina reproductiva / Legal aspects of mitochondrial replacement techniques in reproductive medicine

Mitochondrial replacement techniques have the potential to allow prospective parents who are at risk of passing on debilitating or even life-threatening mitochondrial disorders to have healthy children to whom they are genetically related. Ethical and legal concerns have however been raised about these techniques. In February 2015 the UK became the first country to legalise mitochondrial replacement techniques, which involve the creation of offspring using genetic material from three individuals. News about the first baby born after a mitochondrial replacement technique broke in 2016. Of special interest was the fact that the mitochondrial replacement procedure happened in Mexico due to the lack of clear rules in this respect. Main concerns relate to the alteration of germ line genetics and the dilemma of children inheriting DNA material from three instead of two parents. Mitochondrial transfer has also been closely associated with reproductive cloning. These questions are regulated differently worldwide. In this article I address the legal issues surrounding this emerging new technology and relevant legislation in Spain.