I was interested to read about the ‘three DNA babies’ born in the UK after the mothers underwent mitochondrial donations in order to prevent their babies from developing mitochondrial disease.
According to the NHS:
Mitochondrial disease occurs when mitochondria do not prodyce enough energy. This causes a range of symptoms and the severity of the disease depends on how many cells are affected and where they are located.
When I did my dissertation on mitochondrial diseases some years ago, it was something the researchers in Newcastle, England were still experimenting with. Now that successful pregnancies and births have occurred, it seems like one large step forward in terms of preventing children from being born with mitochondrial diseases. Part of what fascinated me so much about mitochondrial disease is that the mitochondria have their own DNA, and even though we all have some inside us – only the mother can pass it on. Mitochondrial DNA is not inherited from the father. This opened up an interesting prospect in terms of preventing mitochondrial disease before birth.
To read more about this process, check out this article from The Guardian.
References
What Is Mitochondrial Disease – NHS
First UK baby with DNA from three people born after new IVF procedure
purplexed science 