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3 parents
Equipping the Next Generation for Active Engagement in Science

2. 2
Objectives
To use knowledge about genes to explain
how to create an embryo with three
parents.
To make a decision about a new
technology using ethical thinking.

3. 3
Your comments
STARTER
Do you think it should be allowed?
Scientific news Educational Investigations Health issues Weird World health
Babies with three parents coming soon
Margy162
This is just so wrong – scientists should not
be allowed to alter our DNA to create babies
with whatever characteristics they want.
2 days ago
Babies will soon be born which have two Mums
and a Dad!
Some inherited diseases prevent a woman from
having a healthy baby.
This new genetic technology can help. It introduces
healthy DNA from another woman.

4. 4
What do you need to
find out to answer them?
STARTER
Could
this new
technology give
us a healthy
baby?
Your family friends
Maya and Jake have a
sad story...
We want a baby
desperately.
But when I was 21
I suddenly went blind.
I’ve got an inherited
disease called LHON.
Our children will
get it too.

5. 5
3. Write a summary for your friends.
Decide whether you think the technique
could help them and explain how.
2. Find out about the 3 parent technology
• How it is carried out
• How it can help women with LHON to
have a healthy baby
SS1-3
Prepare some advice on the
technology for your friends
1. Find out about LHON
• How it affects cells
• What causes it
• How it’s passed on
CORE TASK

6. 6
What did the game reveal?
Should 3 parents be used?
Do you agree with this
decision?
Play A game
of issues
Count the number
of issues that are
for and against
the technology.
S4-5
EXTENSION
I’m not
sure if it’s the
right thing to do.
I’ve read some
of the negative
comments about the
technology on the
website.

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Get students talking and thinking

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Student sheets
3 parents
Sheet no. Title Notes
SS1 All about LHON Reusable, one per pair
SS2 The 3 parent technique Reusable, one per pair
SS3 Advice sheet Consumable,
one per student (optional)
SS4 A game of issues Reusable, one per group
SS5 The issues Reusable, one per group. Laminate
and cut into cards.

9. 9
SS1
What is LHON?
LHON is an eye
disease that
causes blindness.
Unfortunately there
are no treatments.
How is it inherited?
People who have LHON have inherited it from their mother.
During fertilisation she passes on her unhealthy mitochondria.
What causes it?
Inside the nucleus of all
cells are chromosomes
made of DNA. Sections of
DNA called genes code for
characteristics.
It happens because
the mitochondria are
not working properly.
Mitochondria are the
parts of the cell that
produce energy.
Child with
LHON
All about LHON
Unhealthy mitochondria
Sperm
Unhealthy mitochondria
Fertilisation: the
nucleus from the egg
and sperm join.
A single cell is formed.
This will divide many
times to form an embryo.
Egg
The mitochondria also contain a few genes.
These only code for parts of the mitochondria.
Sometimes, there are mistakes in the genes of the
mitochondria. If this happens the mitochondria don’t
work properly. This is what happens in LHON.
Mitochondria
Cytoplasm
Nucleus
A cell
chromosome
Section of DNA
(a gene)
nucleus

10. 10
SS2
3 parent technology
6. Put it into the woman’s womb
where it should develop into a
healthy baby.
5. Wait for the egg
to develop into
an embryo.
The embryo inherits everything
from the parents except for the
damaged mitochondria.
The embryo inherits mitochondria from
the healthy woman. So the baby ends
up with one dad
...and two mums!
Healthy
mitochondria
Pipette
Egg cell from
healthy woman
1. Get a donated egg from
a healthy woman. Remove its
nucleus and discard it.
Unhealthy
mitochondria
Unhealthy
mitochondria
Egg Sperm
Woman has
mitochondrial
disease
2. Fertilise the woman’s
egg with the man’s
sperm in a glass dish.
3. Take the nucleus
out of their
fertilised egg.
Unhealthy
mitochondria
Nucleus with a
mixture of the
couple’s genes
4. Put it in the
healthy egg cell.
Couple who
want a baby
Healthy
mitochondria

11. 11
SS3
Advice sheet
What is LHON?
LHON is a disease that affects the in the cells.
It is caused by a mistake in the
It is passed from mother to baby because...
Can the 3 parent technique help Maya and Jake?
If they use this technique the baby will have a mixture of genes from Maya and Jake
and inherit their characteristics because...
But the baby will not have mitochondria from Maya because....
This is good because....
I think that the technique will / will not be able to help them because...

12. 12
Society as a
whole
The couple
SS4
A game of issues
Their
future child
Against the
treatment
For the treatmentIssue
affects
 In groups of 4 share out the
cards. You will also need 16
counters.
 The first player reads out an
issue and says where they
think it goes in the grid.
 The other players each say ‘I
agree’ or ‘I disagree’. If most
agree, you win a counter.
 If they all disagree, try to
decide where the card should
go.
 When all the cards have
been placed, the player with
the most counters is
the winner.

13. 13
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
10 11 12
Caring for a child with a
serious disease is a
terrible thing to
experience. Parents
would do anything
to avoid this.
14 15 1613
9
It changes the genes of
future generations so
has unknown
consequences.
It is very expensive to
care for seriously ill
people.
The mother needs
to have a medical
procedure to extract
her eggs. This is a
health risk.
A life which is
disease free is
a happier one.
If we can stop children
being born with serious
illnesses then we should. It
is a moral duty to help
others.
In some countries women are
paid for donating eggs. They
may be pressured to do this,
and go through pain and
health risks.
Rather than wasting time
and money on this, we
should research solutions
to other, more common
health problems.
This is a new procedure
which has not been tested
on humans. It could create
children with health
problems.
There are other safer
options available to the
parents. This includes
using donor eggs (eggs
from another woman).
It allows the parents to
have a healthy baby who
shares genes with both
of them. This is a right
everyone should have.
It is currently banned
in over 40 countries
– there must be a
good reason why.
Interfering with genes in
this way is ‘playing
God’. No human has the
right to do this.
It might not work.
This would be very
disappointing for the
parents.
Mitochondrial diseases
can cause serious health
problems and can even
result in death.
People are often worried
about new techniques but
this shouldn’t stop them
being developed and used.
The issues
SS5

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Get students talking and thinking

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Equipping the Next Generation for Active Engagement in Science