Mitochondrial disorders can cause serious health problems, including paralysis, heart failure, brain damage, strokes and blindness. … The disorders are caused by defects in mitochondrial DNA. … This DNA is passed only from mother to child.
The fix tested by the British scientists … involves removing the genes from the nucleus of the fertilized egg of a couple who wants to have a healthy baby. Those genes represent the majority of genetic material in eggs and are responsible for most of a person’s traits, such as their appearance. The defective mitochondrial DNA is left behind.
The genes from the nucleus of the egg are then injected into a fertilized egg from a healthy woman that has had all of its DNA removed except for the donor’s healthy mitochondrial DNA. …
As a result, the baby has all the DNA responsible for the main traits of the two parents trying to have a healthy baby ….
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“All the children are well and continue to meet their developmental milestones,” [said Doug Turnbull, neurology professor and research team member at Newcastle University.]
