In an epoch making discovery, the scientists have produced monkey babies with contributions from 3parents, 99 percent from the major contributors and 1 percent from the third partner, primarily to ensure that the genetic disorders from the mothers are prevented from passing over to the off springs - as reported in Science nature journal today.

The procedure as per the report, involves, replacing the faulty cellular batteries called "Mitochondria," which is responsible for transmitting the genetic disorders from mothers to their children.

Mitochondria are rod-shaped organelles that can be considered the power generators of the cell, converting oxygen and nutrients into adenosinetriphosphate (ATP). ATP is the chemical energy "currency" of the cell that powers the cell's metabolic activities. This process is called aerobic respirationand is the reason animals breathe oxygen. Without mitochondria(singular, mitochondrion), higher animals would likely not exist because their cells would only be able to obtain energy from anaerobicrespiration (in the absence of oxygen), a process much less efficient than aerobic respiration. In fact, mitochondria enable cells to produce15 times more ATP than they could otherwise, and complex animals, like humans, need large amounts of energy in order to survive. ( Courtesy : Molecular Expressions )

Mitochondrial DNA is passed only from mothers to their offspring, as the mitochondria in sperm do not contribute any DNA to the embryo.Mutations in mitochondrial DNA are linked to a variety of diseases,including type 2 diabetes, mitochondrial myopathies, and Leighsyndrome, a neuro degenerative disease that usually strikes infants,robbing them of motor control (Courtesy: Nature News)

99% of the cell's DNA reside in the nucleus, and remaining 1% is attached to this Mitochondria and this one percent gene is replaced by the contribution from another healthy woman.The baby thus born will have no trace of mother's diseases.

The researchers transferred DNA from the nucleus of one egg into another egg which had had its nucleus removed, without carrying over any mitochondrial DNA in the process — a crucial improvement on existing DNA-transfer techniques. The eggs were then fertilized with sperm and implanted into females, which produced offspring that had mitochondrial DNA from one female and nuclear DNA from another (Courtesy: Nature News)

Tests showed that none of the monkeys had any trace of mitochondrial DNA from the mother that provided their nuclear DNA, suggesting that the process was successful. “We consider it a big achievement,” Dr Mitalipov said. “Anything we study and achieve in non-human primates can be translated much more easily to humans.” ( Courtesy: timesonline )

Sounds interesting but the scientist are apprehensive about this replacement, involving Germline.

"In biology and genetics, the germlineof a mature or developing individual is the line (sequence) of germcells that have genetic material that may be passed to a child.

For example, sex cells such as the sperm or the egg, are part of the germline. So are the cells that produce sex cells, called gametocytes, the cells that produce those, called gametogonia, and all the way back to the zygote,the cell from which the individual developed.

Cells that arenot in the germline are called somatic cells. For example, all cells ofthe mammalian liver are somatic. If there is a mutation or other genetic change in the germline, it can be passed to offspring, but achange in a somatic cell will not be." (Courtesy: wiki )

"Researcher Shoukhrat Mitalipov said more studies must be done in monkeys. He noted that the technique would face regulatory hurdles for human studies because it would change the DNA inherited by future generations, an idea that has long provoked ethical concerns.

Douglas Wallace of the University of California, Irvine, an authority on mitochondria who wasn't involved in the federally funded experiment,said the results were exciting and the technique is "potentially very interesting."

But"there are safety issues that are going to need to be addressed before one could think about it in humans," Wallace said." ( Courtesy: msnbc.msn.com )

If successfully tested on human, this would indirectly mean a "Gene Refinement," which in my opinion, would be against the "Law of Nature,"and there could be several long term repercussions.

However,the advantage of the discovery - saving generations from the trauma of inherited diseases - may outweigh the caution in my statement, for restricted use only.