Eight babies have been born in the UK with DNA from three people following a procedure to eliminate an incurable inherited disease.

It is a major advance for the technique, called mitochondrial donation therapy, designed to prevent a life-limiting, often fatal illness caused by genetic mutations in the structures that generate energy in all our cells.

It is also a test of the UK’s permissive but highly regulated stance on human embryo research that allowed a technique once criticised for creating “three-parent babies” to proceed.

The babies, four girls and four boys – two of them identical twins – were all born in the last five years and are healthy, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“It’s a great success for these families,” said Sir Doug Turnbull, emeritus professor at the University of Newcastle who helped pioneer the treatment.

“This is a devastating disease with no cure and without this technique, they would not feel that their families were free of mitochondrial disease. This gives them that opportunity.”

Mitochondrial disease affects around one in 5,000 babies born in the UK.

Depending on the number and type of mutations in their mitochondria, the severity and type of disease can vary, but includes neurological, metabolic and developmental disorders.

Only women at high risk of passing on severe disease qualify for the procedure, provided though a specialist facility at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The identities of the seven families and their babies are being withheld, but a mother of one of the baby boys speaking anonymously said: “The emotional burden of mitochondrial disease has been lifted, and in its place is hope, joy, and deep gratitude.”

How does the technique work?

The procedure involves removing the genetic information from an affected mother’s fertilised embryo before inserting it into one from a healthy female donor, from which the genetic information has been removed.

Crucially, the hundreds of thousands of diseased mitochondria are left behind, leaving the new embryo with healthy ones present in the donor embryo.

Mitochondria contain a tiny amount of their own unique genetic code, so the resulting babies carry DNA from three different people.

But because it represents just 0.02% of our total DNA and has no bearing on genetic traits we inherit from our parents, researchers behind the technique, have never liked the “three-parent” moniker.

However, the technique – whatever you choose to call it – isn’t perfect.

A total of 22 women underwent the procedure but only seven became pregnant, resulting in eight births – a 36% success rate.

Five of the eight babies were born with no trace of disease.

But tests on the other three revealed a small percentage of mutated mitochondria had been carried over during the procedure.

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While they are at levels too low to cause mitochondrial disease, the babies will require careful follow-ups to ensure they continue to develop normally.

“We have designed a study specifically for that purpose,” said Professor Bobby McFarland, who leads the service in Newcastle.

“That’s what is unique about us offering this in Newcastle because there isn’t anywhere else in the world that’s doing this in a regulated way.”

While there’s good reason to expect the children will develop normally, the procedure does take medicine into new territory.

Because mitochondria contain their own genetic code, girls born via the technique – carrying those from the healthy donor – will pass that on to any children they may have in future.

Changing the “germ-line” in such a way has raised ethical concerns.

But for seven new families, and more to follow, the procedure promises to cure a disease that has affected their families for generations.

The number of acid attacks has risen 10% in a year, according to a Freedom of Information request to UK police forces.

Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI) said its analysis shows 498 physical attacks involving corrosive substances were recorded in 2024 – compared with 454 in the previous year.

According to the charity, the real figure is likely to be even higher because of under-reporting by victims.

In 2023, both Northumbria Police and the Metropolitan Police recorded the highest number of physical attacks – 18% and 16% respectively.

But figures in 2024 showed a significant fall in attacks in London, dropping by 78%, while cases in Northumbria rose substantially.

ASTI executive director Jaf Shah told Sky News that attacks in Northumbria account for almost 25% of the nationwide total – despite making up just 2% of the population.

He explained: “Historically, London has always seen the highest number attacks, which is unsurprising because of the population. But what we’ve seen in the 2024 data is a massive drop in the number of attacks in London to just 16.

“Whereas in Northumbria we’ve seen a 49% increase to 121 attacks, so there’s a massive disparity in terms of numbers, especially relative to population figures for each of those corresponding areas. So this is obviously a very worrying trend.”

Mr Shah added there was supporting evidence about the type of attacks taking place in the Northumbria force area.

“Professor Francisco Figueiredo, who is head of ophthalmology at Newcastle University … certainly picked up on an increase of young men receiving treatment with corrosive injuries in the eye.

“A lot of the injuries he’s treated are related to the use of ammonia … that’s quite different to some of the attacks we’ve seen in other parts of the UK where sulphuric acid is commonly used.”

West Midlands Police also recorded a significant increase in attacks – rising 82% between 2023 and 2024 – and making up 12% of the UK total.

ASTI states the FOI data reveals acid attacks in the UK are historically associated with male-on-male violence and often linked to gang activity.

Of the 224 physical attacks where gender data was recorded, a third of victims were female, reflecting the increasing use of acid as a weapon of violence against women and girls.

ASTI also commissioned research, conducted by Frontier Economics, which concluded that the financial impact of all acid attacks in 2024 was more than £31m.

The study estimated that a single attack costs £63,000, consisting of the medical and psychological support victims require and paying for the criminal justice system to deal with perpetrators.

ASTI also told Sky News it was recommending reforms to tackle the “lack of robust checks on sales of corrosives”, especially via online retailers.

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Acid attack ‘devastates lives’

Commander Stephen Clayman, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for corrosive substances, said an attack “devastates lives and causes physical and psychological damage to victims that can last a lifetime” and officers were committed “to tackle this appalling crime”.

In a statement, he added: “Many corrosive substances are available over the counter at supermarkets and DIY stores.

“It is important that law enforcement and government work closely with retailers themselves, to enhance our intelligence picture, and determine the best ways to keep these products from falling into the hands of people who intend to use them to cause harm.

“Serious crimes such as this should not go unreported and we want victims to feel able to come forward and report these matters to us.”

“It was like hell on Earth.”

Warning: This article includes references to sexual abuse and suicide that some readers may find distressing.

Colin (not his real name) is one of 19 alleged abuse victims who has come forward following a Sky News investigation into a closed children’s home in Norfolk.

The total number is now 62.

Numerous people have told us that they experienced physical, emotional and sexual abuse at The Small School at Red House run by a Danish organisation called Tvind, which has been described as a cult.

Colin was taken into care after being a victim of sexual exploitation, but when he arrived at The Red House at 15, his personal, painful history was used against him.

“A couple of the lads grabbed hold of me,” he said. “They’d been told that I was a rent boy before I got there, they wanted to knock me into shape. I contemplated killing myself. I’d never experienced that humiliation.”

Children were sent to The Red House from all over the country. Some have told Sky News that violent staff broke their fingers, threw them down the stairs and even locked them in rooms with Alsatians.

Sadly for Colin, his experience of sexual exploitation continued at the home.

“They put these three lads in my room, they squeezed me round my neck and I passed out,” he said. “When I came round they were sexually abusing me. I was screaming and screaming. The next day I ran and I never went back there.”

The home was run by the Tvind School Cooperative of Denmark. A controversial group founded in the late 1960s, they opened around 30 radical schools in Denmark, mostly for disadvantaged children, and two in England. Many have since closed.

Inspections by regulatory bodies reveal growing concerns about The Red House. In 1990, the Social Services Inspectorate wrote to directors of local authorities warning them against sending children to the home.

An inspection report made by Norfolk County Council in 1994 shows they were aware of alleged “sexual abuse” and “physical abuse” involving 20 children.

Yet the home continued to operate and three years after that inspection report, Norfolk County Council sent a teenage boy to the Red House.

“Red House was this black hole where they could just dump people and not worry about them,” he says.

“Whilst I was there I can’t even think of one instance when my social worker turned up to come and check on me.”

He is one of the many alleged victims in the process of suing Norfolk County Council and the local authorities which sent children to the home.

Read more:
The Red House: The children’s home run like a cult
The Danish group behind a children’s home run like a cult

Daniel Lemberger Cooper is representing victims on behalf of Imran Khan and Partners.

“[We] urge Norfolk Council, who are the centre of this and whose geographic area Red House was based, to tell the truth. They were aware very early on … about abuse and allegations of abuse and they failed to act.”

Victims are also being supported by the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association who are urging any more people to come forward.

The home was shut down in 1998. Norfolk Police have done two investigations into allegations of abuse but no one has been charged.

Those still working for Tvind in Denmark say they are not associated with the former cooperative.

Norfolk County Council says: “We continue to investigate and respond to those private claims through the appropriate legal channels.

“Our thoughts are with all survivors of abuse but, as there is an ongoing legal claim relating to Red House, we cannot comment further at this time.”

People can contact the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association by visiting: www.smallschoolredhouse.co.uk.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.