UK Wedding News
29/01/2015
The study, which has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at how many families could be helped by new IVF techniques to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial disease from parent to baby. The new fertility technique would involve making babies from the DNA of three people. A vote on the issue, which has proved controversial, is due to be held by parliament next week. If supported, it could see the first practice of the technique take place later this year.
Mitochondrial diseases are caused by inherited mutations in the DNA contained in mitochondria – structures present in every cell that generate energy. The mitochondrial diseases can be devastating and affect tissues that have high energy demands, such as the brain, heart and kidney.
Defective mitochondria are passed only from mother to child, but scientists in the UK have developed new IVF-based techniques which are said to have the potential to prevent the transmission of serious mitochondrial disease.
Known as 'mitochondrial donation', the techniques involve removing the defective mitochondria inherited from the mother and replacing them with the healthy mitochondria of another woman. The nuclear DNA, which contains 99.9% of genetic material from the mother and father, remains unchanged, but as mitochondria have a tiny amount of their own DNA, any child as a result of the treatment would have genetic information from three people.
If the new legislation is approved by parliament, the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University will be the first to offer mitochondrial donation. They have now said as many as 2,500 women in the UK, aged between 15 and 44, could benefit from the treatment. This would be around 152 births a year.
Professor Doug Turnbull, Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University, and an author of the paper, said: "Our findings have considerable implications for all countries that are considering allowing mitochondrial donation techniques. In the UK we are waiting for parliament to decide whether to support these regulations. This would allow women who carry these mutations greater reproductive choice."
(JP/CD)
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2,500 Women Could Benefit From New IVF Treatment
New research has suggested that almost 2,500 women in the UK could benefit from mitochondrial donation.The study, which has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at how many families could be helped by new IVF techniques to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial disease from parent to baby. The new fertility technique would involve making babies from the DNA of three people. A vote on the issue, which has proved controversial, is due to be held by parliament next week. If supported, it could see the first practice of the technique take place later this year.
Mitochondrial diseases are caused by inherited mutations in the DNA contained in mitochondria – structures present in every cell that generate energy. The mitochondrial diseases can be devastating and affect tissues that have high energy demands, such as the brain, heart and kidney.
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Defective mitochondria are passed only from mother to child, but scientists in the UK have developed new IVF-based techniques which are said to have the potential to prevent the transmission of serious mitochondrial disease.
Known as 'mitochondrial donation', the techniques involve removing the defective mitochondria inherited from the mother and replacing them with the healthy mitochondria of another woman. The nuclear DNA, which contains 99.9% of genetic material from the mother and father, remains unchanged, but as mitochondria have a tiny amount of their own DNA, any child as a result of the treatment would have genetic information from three people.
If the new legislation is approved by parliament, the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University will be the first to offer mitochondrial donation. They have now said as many as 2,500 women in the UK, aged between 15 and 44, could benefit from the treatment. This would be around 152 births a year.
Professor Doug Turnbull, Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University, and an author of the paper, said: "Our findings have considerable implications for all countries that are considering allowing mitochondrial donation techniques. In the UK we are waiting for parliament to decide whether to support these regulations. This would allow women who carry these mutations greater reproductive choice."
(JP/CD)
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