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When first used in humans in the 1970s, in-vitro fertilization (IVF) raised significant ethical, legal, and philosophical concerns. The ability to manipulate human reproduction was viewed in many circles as an attack on the traditional family and an odious attempt to assert human dominion over nature. Terms such as “designer babies” and “playing God” were commonly applied to IVF. Nevertheless, much of the scientific community touted the potential benefits of these technologies, viewing them as the start of a new era of medicine. Indeed, despite those dire predictions four decades ago, IVF is now widely accepted and has enabled infertile couples to conceive more than 5 million healthy babies.
Fourteen years ago, my Columbia University colleagues and I (JL) examined the mitochondrial origins of Dolly, ...
