HAMPSHIRE’S MPs were split last night as the Commons voted to allow world-first gene therapy to stop incurable diseases passing to babies.

The controversial measure – called mitochondrial donation – will target faulty DNA responsible for muscle wasting, heart problems, vision loss, organ failure and epilepsy.

Embryos will be given healthy DNA from donor eggs, meaning that a baby has the DNA of three people – from two parents, plus less than one per cent from a donor.

The Anglican and Catholic churches launched a last-gasp bid to derail the vote, amid warnings of “three-person babies” and “genetic modification”.

Most of the county’s MPs voted in favour of the measure, which passed in a free vote by 382 to 128 – a decisive majority of 254.

They were Labour MPs John Denham (Southampton Itchen), Alan Whitehead (Southampton Test), Liberal Democrat Mike Thornton (Eastleigh) and Conservatives Steve Brine (Winchester), Caroline Dinenage (Gosport), George Hollingbery (Meon Valley), Julian Lewis (New Forest East) and Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North).

But fellow Conservatives Mark Hoban (Fareham), Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) and Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight) opposed the change.

If, as expected, the Lords also votes yes, it will clear the way for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to grant licences for the treatment – possibly by the end of the year.

Public health minister Jane Ellison dismissed alarmist talk of “genetic modification”, pointing out that mitochondrial DNA – unlike “nuclear” DNA – did not determine personal characteristics and traits.

She told MPs that it was the “only hope” for some women who carry the disease to have healthy children.