The first UK baby created with DNA from three people has been born after doctors performed an experimental IVF procedure that aims to prevent children from inheriting incurable diseases.

The technique, known as mitochondrial donation treatment (MDT), uses tissue from the eggs of healthy female donors to create IVF embryos that are free from harmful mutations their mothers carry and are likely to pass on to their children.

Because the embryos combine sperm and egg from the biological parents with tiny battery-like structures called mitochondria from the donor’s egg, the resulting baby has DNA from the mother and father as usual, plus a small amount of genetic material – about 37 genes – from the donor.

While the process has led to the phrase “three-parent babies”, more than 99.8% of the DNA in the babies comes from the mother and father, not the donor.

The Guardian further reported that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) confirmed “less than five” babies have been born in the UK so far after such treatment.