OK I'm not a scientist and not at all clear on the details of this. But have copied from a letter to The Times y'day which gives an alternative opinion (since it's only available if you subscribe it's here in full but is long). The list of signatories strikes me in particular.
In the procedures being proposed, the chromosomes of unfertilised eggs or of newly conceived embryos are, in fact, replaced, and these are clearly examples, therefore, of germ-line genetic manipulation. The reconstructed egg or embryo will have an altered genetic composition that will be inheritable. It would be the first time such intentional genetic modifications of children and their descendants were expressly permitted and would open the door to further genetic alterations of human beings with unforeseeable consequences.
Chromosomal replacement would cross the Rubicon into germ-line genetic interventions. Moreover, we are concerned that these proposals for research and possible treatment which rely on egg donation will greatly increase the possibilities for the exploitation of egg donors.
Because of the implications for all of humanity, intentional germ-line interventions are prohibited in every national jurisdiction that has considered the issue. They are also banned under a number of international legal instruments, such as the Council of Europe?s Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine which prohibits the genetic modification of spermatozoa or ova for procreation.
We urge the Government to consider its international responsibilities. This is because persons created through germ-line interventions, which may subsequently be revealed to be detrimental, will be able to travel and have their own children abroad. For the UK to isolate itself from its duties by allowing ?mitochondrial replacement? to take place without consulting its international partners would create a very serious precedent.
Professor David Albert Jones, Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford; Professor Emmanuel Agius, Dean, Faculty of Theology, University of Malta; The Rev Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, Associate Professor of Biology, Providence College, RI, USA; Professor Stéphane Bauzon, State University Roma Tor Vergata, Italy; Professor Francoise Baylis Novel Tech Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada; Professor E. Christian Brugger Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary, Denver, Colorado, USA; Professor Donna Dickenson Professor Emeritus of Medical Ethics and Humanities, University of London; Professor Norman M. Ford, Catholic Theological College of the MCD University of Divinity, Brunswick, Australia; Professor Anne Barbeau Gardiner City University of New York, NY, USA; Professor Robert P. George McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University, NJ, USA; Professor Jozef Glasa, Institute of Health Care Ethics, Slovak Medical University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic; Professor Geoffrey Hunt, Centre For Bioethics and Emerging Technologies, St Mary?s University College, London; Professor Christian Illies Chair of Philosophy, Bamberg University, Germany; Dr June Jones, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Ethics, University of Birmingham; Professor John F. Kilner Franklin Forman Chair of Ethics, Professor of Bioethics and Contemporary Culture, Director of Bioethics Degree Programs, Trinity International University, Deerfield, IL, USA; Mr John Kleinsman, Director, The Nathaniel Centre, The New Zealand Catholic Bioethics Centre, Wellington, New Zealand; Professor Regine Kollek, Professor of Health Technology Assessment, University of Hamburg, Germany; The Rev Joseph W. Koterski, Department of Philosophy, Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA; Professor Mette Lebech, Department of Philosophy, National University of Ireland, Maynooth; Professor Abby Lippman, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Professor Natalia López-Moratalla, Professor of Biochemistry, La Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain; Professor Calum MacKellar, Director of Research, Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, Edinburgh; Professor Nur Masalha, St Mary?s University College, London; Dr Pia Matthews, Lecturer in Healthcare Ethics, St Mary?s University College, London; The Rev Kevin McGovern, Director, Caroline Chisholm Centre for Health Ethics, East Melbourne, Australia; Dr John McLean; Dr Emilio Mordini, Centre for Science, Society and Citizenship, Rome; Professor Anselm Winfried Mueller Professor of Ethics at Keimyung University, Daegu, South Korea; Dr Dónal O?Mathúna, Senior Lecturer in Ethics, Decision-Making & Evidence, School of Nursing and Human Sciences, Dublin City University, Ireland; Professor Craig Payne, Professor of Humanities, Indian Hills College, Iowa, USA; Professor Hilary Rose, Professor Emeritus of Physik, Gresham College, London; Professor Ingrid Schneider, Centre for Biotechnology, Society and the Environment, Research Group Medicine, University of Hamburg, Germany; Professor Joseph Shaw, Department of Philosophy, Oxford University; Professor Jiri Simek, Chair for Ethics and Philosophy in Helping Professions University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice Faculty for Health and Social Studies, Czech Republic; Dr Robert J. Song, Senior Lecturer in Christian Ethics, Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University; Dr Trevor G. Stammers, Programme Director in Bioethics and Medical Law, St Mary?s University College, London; Dr Agneta Mauléon Sutton Visiting Lecturer, Heythrop College, University of London; Professor Rodney Taylor, Fellow, Faculty of the History and Philosophy of Medicine, Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, Middlesex; Professor Nicholas Tonti-Filippini, Associate Dean and Head of Bioethics, John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family, Lateran University, Rome, Italy; Dr Verena Tschudin, Visiting Senior Fellow, University of Surrey; Professor Günter Virt University of Vienna, Austria; Dr Helen Watt Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford