At birth, a child can inherit mutations of the mitochondria from his or her mother. Some women are genetically predisposed to pass on these mutations, giving rise to potentially fatal disorders that affect organs with high energy demand, like the heart and brain.
A new gene therapy technique offers treatment for this problematic inheritance using mitochondrial replacement therapy. The technique, approved for clinical trials in the UK, was pioneered by Oregon Health and Science University’s Shoukhrat Mitalipov. During the procedure, the mother’s egg cell nucleus is transplanted into a donor egg cell where healthy mitochondria are embedded.