Cover Story
Lab Technician Fertilizing Egg
Being a
powerful
example of
advanced
genetic
engineering,
it’s no surprise
the procedure
has gained
both admirers
and detractors
52
MARCH 2020
nucleus has been previously destroyed and which is
then fertilised by inserting the father’s sperm into it.
While in pronuclear transfer, both the mother’s
and the donor’s eggs are fertilised through standard
IVF, with the replacement happening between the
two fertilised nuclei. In both instances, the resulting
embryo will carry the parents’ nuclear DNAs coupled
with the donor’s mitochondrial DNA, effectively having
genetic information from three individuals.
Being a powerful example of advanced genetic
engineering, it’s no surprise the procedure has gained
both admirers and detractors.
“Mitochondrial donation is a highly innovative
process that gives couples affected by mitochondrial
conditions more choice about how they can go
about starting a family,” Liz Curtis, who lost a child
to mitochondrial disease and has created The Lily
Foundation in the UK to support other families
affected by it, told Global Health Asia-Pacific. “Our
charity fully supports that.”
Critics caution, however, that it’s too early to fully
understand both the efficacy and risks involved in the
procedure. “The technique exposes children to an
experiment that we don’t know if it’s going to work,” Dr
David Keefe, a fertility expert at NYU Langone Health,
said in an interview with Global Health Asia-Pacific.
How do mitochondria cause problems?
Since mitochondria have their own DNA, any of their
genetic mutations can be passed down to newborns
in the same way parents’ faulty genes in the cellular
nuclei are replicated in their offspring during the
process of fertilisation.
While babies receive their nuclear genes from both
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