Three-Person In Vitro Fertilization Technique

Three-Person In Vitro Fertilization Technique Latest News

Eight children in the UK have been spared from devastating genetic diseases thanks to a new three-person in vitro fertilization technique, scientists reported recently.

What is In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)?

• It is a medical procedure used to assist individuals or couples who are facing fertility challenges in achieving pregnancy.
• IVF is the most common and effective type of assisted reproductive technology (ART).
• Process:
  • IVF is a complex process that involves retrieving eggs from ovaries and manually combining them with sperm in a lab for fertilization.
  • Several days after fertilization, the fertilized egg (now called an embryo) is placed inside a uterus. 
  • Pregnancy occurs when this embryo implants itself into the uterine wall.
• The procedure can be done using a couple’s own eggs and sperm. Or IVF may involve eggs, sperm or embryos from a known or anonymous donor.
• The success rate of IVF depends on a number of factors, including reproductive history, maternal age, the cause of infertility, and lifestyle factors.

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About Three-Person In Vitro Fertilization

• Most DNA is found in the nucleus of our cells, and it’s that genetic material—some inherited from mom, some from dad — that makes us who we are. 
• But there’s also some DNA outside of the cell’s nucleus, in structures called mitochondria. 
• Dangerous mutations there can cause a range of diseases in children that can lead to muscle weakness, seizures, developmental delays, major organ failure and death.
• These disorders are inherited exclusively through the mother, as mitochondrial DNA is passed down maternally. 
• While men can suffer from mitochondrial disease, they do not transmit it to their children. 
• Currently, there is no cure for mitochondrial DNA disorders.
• The three-person IVF technique offers a promising solution to this.
  • It involves a procedure in which the nucleus from the mother’s fertilized egg, along with the father’s sperm, is transferred into a healthy donor egg that has had its own nucleus removed. 
  • This process allows the child to inherit nuclear DNA from the biological parents and healthy mitochondrial DNA from the donor.
  • The procedure essentially replaces the faulty mitochondrial material in the mother’s egg with healthy mitochondria from the donor.
  • Therefore, the mother with the mitochondrial condition is still the biological mother of her child.
  • In fact, the egg donor’s DNA only accounts for about .2% of the baby’s genetics.

Source: DDN