Eight healthy babies born after IVF using DNA from three people

Genetic material from mother and father transferred to healthy donor egg to reduce risk of life-threatening diseases

• We'd never heard of it': a woman tells of her daughter's death of mitochondrial disease

Doctors in the UK have announced the birth of eight healthy babies after performing a groundbreaking procedure that creates IVF embryos with DNA from three people to prevent the children from inheriting incurable genetic disorders.

The mothers were all high risk for passing on life-threatening diseases to their babies due to mutations in their mitochondria, the tiny structures that sit inside cells and provide the power they need to function.