Children of three parents: change the batteries in the cells of the child!

In fact, three parents is too loud to say: from the second of the women, such children will receive only mitochondrial DNA, and from the other two parents – almost all the hereditary material. 

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) contains only 37 genes; the remaining approximately 25,000 human protein-coding genes are found in nuclear chromosomes. mtDNA mutations are transmitted to children (both boys and girls) along with the cytoplasm of the maternal egg. In many cases, such breakdowns in "cellular power plants" make the embryo unviable and lead to miscarriages, but in less severe cases, hereditary diseases associated with mitochondrial dysfunction are transmitted through the female line from generation to generation. Hereditary mitochondrial pathologies are quite common – about 1 person out of 6,500, and in the UK hundreds of families remain infertile or risk that their children will suffer from serious diseases, and girls will pass the "spoiled" mitochondria to their daughters, granddaughters, etc.

There are about 50 syndromes caused by mitochondrial dysfunction. They lead to heart disease, mental retardation, severe neurological disorders, muscular dystrophy, diabetes, vision loss and deafness.

The authors of the new technique hope that the combination of in vitro fertilization and cell surgery will allow many couples to avoid having children with mitochondrial pathologies or the need to raise a child conceived with the help of a donor egg. Researchers led by Professor Doug Turnbull injected a sperm into an egg, and a day later, when the fusion of their nuclei had not yet completed, they extracted this pair from an egg that had not yet begun to develop and transplanted the future nucleus into a donor egg with a previously removed nucleus. All ten embryos developed normally, but after five days they were destroyed. In previous experiments, healthy mice were born from mouse embryos obtained using this technique, so only the permission of the supervisory authorities is needed to introduce the new method into the clinic.

Activists of organizations opposed to cloning and artificial insemination have already condemned this technology. Scientists also claim that calling an egg donor a mother is the same as considering that a person has three parents after a kidney transplant.

Now scientists are seeking permission to introduce their methodology into practice. If the bureaucratic procedures are carried out without delay, the first children from three parents will be able to be born in three years.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru according to the Telegraph

06.02.2008