If I turned in a 20,337 word article and the editor decided to replace 37 of those words, would I call her a co-author? Certainly not. So why does replacing 37 genes in a fertilized ovum destined to develop into a sick child conjure up images of ménages-a-trois in Petri dishes and mingling chromosomes? Those genes, most of which control energy metabolism, are delivered in mitochondria that replace their mutation-bearing counterparts.
To read some of the media coverage a week ago, you’d think that the February 25th meeting of the Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was to discuss creating monsters, not manipulating mitochondria.
Read the full, original story: Mitohype: 3-Parent Designer Babies Who Will Change Human Evolution