MITOCHONDRIAL DONATION TREATMENT

A baby was born using three persons DNA in the UK.
The Baby technically, has three parents, deriving the mitochondria from a donor apart from the genetic material (DNA) from biological parents.
The need for using this pioneering technology was aimed to prevent the child inheriting the mother’s mitochondrial disease.
In this particular case the mother had a mitochondrial disease that did not intent to pass on to her baby. Also, the mother did not want to have a donor egg because the baby would also carry the genetic material of the
Mitochondria are basically the powerhouses of the cells, they generate the energy, and thus are also responsible for cell function in the human body.
Certain defects might occur impacting on the way the mitochondria produce energy for the cells and thereby impacting cell function.
The diseases that arise out of such mitochondrial mutations are called mitochondrial diseases.
When the mitochondria are impaired and do not produce sufficient energy, it could lead to lead to brain damage, organ failure and muscle wastage.
The symptoms get more and more debilitating as a child grows, and have no cure, but can be treated.

The scientific process to treat Mitochondrial disease

Mitochondrial diseases are only passed on by the mother, and research has been attempting to find a way out of protecting the infant from inheriting the disease.
Through an advanced ‘In Vitro Fertilization technique’, the baby’s biological father’s sperm was used to fertilize the eggs from the biological mother, who has a mitochondrial disease, and a third female donor with clear mitochondria, separately.
Then, the nuclear genetic material from the donor’s egg is removed and replaced with the genetic material from the biological parents.
The final product i.e. the egg – which has the genetic material (DNA) from the parents, and the mitochondria from the female donor, is implanted in the uterus, and carried to full term to yield a baby.
Such a baby when born will be free from the mother’s mitochondrial disease. This process is termed Mitochondrial Donation Treatment (MDT).

Side effects to the procedure

In the Mitochondrial Donation Treatment there is a possibility that a small amount of the maternal mitochondria with errors may get passed on during the procedure. However more ore published data is needed to establish consensus.

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB

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