Researchers in Britain have taken the DNA from three different humans and infused it into a single embryo. It is thought that using this new technique could hold new promise to solving a number of different diseases that involve mitochondrial DNA.
DNA from the mother is referred to as mitochondrial DNA. It is passed down to offspring from the mother, and it is the DNA that carries the genetic blueprint for a number of genetic type diseases. These types of diseases are inherited and passed down through the mothers DNA.
The researchers took a human embryo, one with a fathers DNA and the mother’s mitochondrial DNA and altered it genetically. They extracted the nuclear DNA from the embryo, containing information about both the mother and father. They then injected this nuclear DNA information into a donor egg from a woman without any mitochondrial disease.
The resulting embryo had therefore three parents: Two mothers, and one Father. It was disease free, and inherited the information from both mother and father as normal, but the characteristics dealing with mitochondrial DNA came from the unaffected, healthy donor egg.
This idea is not a brand new idea, but this experiment was a groundbreaking advance. The embryo was allowed to live and grow for five days. The next step is believed to be to take a chance and let such an embryo develop into a living, breathing baby. One that is hopefully healthy and free from mitochondrial DNA type disease.