Scientists want to create babies using DNA from three parents to stop children from inheriting life-threatening diseases.
Leading IVF practitioners say by substituting defective genes with healthy DNA mitochondrial mutations, which can cause organ failure, as well as deadly heart, liver and muscle conditions, could be eliminated, Daily Telegraph reports.
Professor Peter Illingworth of IVF Australia said the procedure would involve the DNA of three parents but stressed it "would not affect the child's genetic make-up".
He said the genes that influence a child's behaviour and appearance came from the nucleus of a cell and not from the mitochondrion.
"We want to remove the mother's bad mitochondria and replace it with healthy mitochondria through IVF," Professor Illingworth said.
Australian law prohibits combining the DNA of more than two people but the Federal Government is reviewing the Research Involving Human Embryos Act after a report was tabled in Parliament last year.
Professor Illingworth hopes the potential health benefits will convince the government to make an exception to the Act.
However, scientists are divided on the controversial technique.
IVF Australia wants to replace a woman's defective mitochondrial genes in the ovum with healthy genes from a second woman.
But Kolling Institute of Medical Research and University of Sydney Professor Carolyn Sue said the technique is "fraught with danger" and may not work.
"If you just put in some foreign DNA it might get eradicated," she said.
"The other technique is to transfer the nucleus to a donated egg. The difficulty is you need to remove all the mitochondria from the mother's ova when you do this procedure and the mitochondria are right next to the nucleus. It is technically a very challenging process."
Religious groups such as the Catholic Church and pro-life advocates such as NSW Right to Life are vehemently opposed to plans to changes to the Act.
The groups consider embryos a form of life and see the destruction of embryos for experiments as unethical.
Front page
RSS Feed