Scientists in the United Kingdom (UK) have reportedly developed a ground breaking three-person DNA technique which has resulted in eight babies being born free of incurable mitochondrial disease.

According to a BBC report, UK scientists have combined the egg and sperm from the mother and father with a second egg from a donor mother.

“After years of uncertainty this treatment gave us hope – and then it gave us our baby,” a mother of a baby girl born as a result of the technique was quoted saying in the BBC article. “We look at them now, full of life and possibility, and we’re overwhelmed with gratitude.”

The mother further noted that the emotional burden of mitochondrial disease has been lifted due to scientific advancement.

Mitochondrial diseases are a group of genetic conditions that affect how mitochondria in your cells produce energy. This disease is often passed on from mother to child which may result in disabilities in babies or even death.