U.S. regulators on Friday warned a New York fertility doctor to stop marketing an experimental procedure that uses DNA from three people – a mother, a father and an egg donor – to avoid certain genetic diseases.
The doctor, John Zhang, used the technique to help a Jordanian couple have a baby boy last year.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, Zhang said his companies wouldn’t use the technology in the U.S. again without permission, yet they continue to promote it.
The procedure is not approved in the U.S., and Congress has barred the FDA from even reviewing proposals to conduct such experiments.
A receptionist at Zhang’s New Hope Fertility Clinic in New York said late Friday that no one was available to comment. Zhang heads the clinic and a related company, Darwin Life Inc.