Three-Parent Babies Born as Early as Next Year?

The United Kingdom will become the first country in the world to allow "three-parent babies" this week.

The process is done using a treatment known as mitochondrial donation and is a modified version of invitro-fertilization.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations allow the creation of genetically modified babies made from the DNA of three people. Parliament approved the regulations in February and they go into affect Thursday.

But the new regulation is being met with widespread concern over its ethical and safety implications.

"Countless human embryos will be destroyed in the development of these techniques and once they are deployed, we will be embarking on a mass genetic experiment on future generations, without consent," said Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, a group dedicated to restoring Christian values in the United Kingdom.

Williams points out that this kind of precedure is unprecidented and there is no way of predicting the potential consequences.

"First, we are altering genetic material, which could give rise to unforeseen complications and abnormalities," she explained.

"Secondly, we are creating children who have at least three genetic parents. What effect will that have?" Williams asked.

"Thirdly, we are imposing this, not just on the next generation, but on all subsequent generations, because these modifications will be passed from one generation to the next," she said.

The first baby could be born as early as 2016.