(MENAFN- Al-Anbaa) The UK has now become the first country to approve laws to allow the creation of babies from three people.
The modified version of IVF has passed its final legislative obstacle after being approved by the House of Lords.
The fertility regulator will now decide how to license the procedure to prevent babies inheriting deadly genetic diseases.
The first baby could be born as early as 2016.
A large majority of MPs in the House of Commons approved "three-person babies" earlier this month.
The House of Lords tonight rejected an attempt to block the plan by a majority of 232.
Mitochondria are the tiny compartments inside nearly every cell of the body that convert food into useable energy.
But genetic defects in the mitochondria mean the body has insufficient energy to keep the heart beating or the brain functioning.
The structures are passed down only from the mother and have their own DNA, although it does not alter traits including appearance or personality.
The technique, developed in Newcastle, uses a modified version of IVF to combine the healthy mitochondria of a donor woman with DNA of the two parents. It results in babies with 0.1% of their DNA from the second woman and is a permanent change that would echo down through the generations.
In the debate, health minister Lord Howe said there was an opportunity to offer "real hope" to families. He stated the UK was leading the world and that three safety reviews by experts suggested it would be safe.
Lord Howe told the House: "Families can see that the technology is there to help them and are keen to take it up, they have noted the conclusions of the expert panel.
"It would be cruel and perverse in my opinion, to deny them that opportunity for any longer than absolutely necessary."
Lord Deben, the former government minister John Gummer, countered that there were "real doubts about safety".
He also voiced concerns about whether the creation of such babies would be legal.
"It is quite clear that there is considerable disagreement, let me put it simply like that, about whether this action is legal under European law."
Baroness Scotland of Asthal, a former Labour attorney general, also questioned the legality asking: "Why the haste?
"Everyone agrees we have to get this right. If we're going to do something which everyone agrees is novel, different and important internationally we really have to be confident that we are on solid ground. If we are not we give a disservice."
Fertility doctor, Lord Winston, told the House there were comparison with the early days of IVF which was "also a set in the dark".
He added: "I don't believe my Lords, in spite of what we've heard this evening, that this technology threatens the fabric of society in the slightest bit."
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