AMEI's Current Trends in Diagnosis & Treatment

Register      Login

VOLUME 1 , ISSUE 2 ( July-December, 2017 ) > List of Articles

MEDICAL ETHICS, LAW AND SOCIETY

Recent Advancement in Human Reproduction Three-parent Babies: A Technique to Neutralize Mitochondrial Disease Load—A Boon or a Bane for Society?

Madhu Nagpal, Simranpreet Kaur

Keywords : Bioethical issues, Germline genetic modification, Mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid, Mitochondrial replacement therapy, Three-parent in vitro fertilization

Citation Information : Nagpal M, Kaur S. Recent Advancement in Human Reproduction Three-parent Babies: A Technique to Neutralize Mitochondrial Disease Load—A Boon or a Bane for Society?. Curr Trends Diagn Treat 2017; 1 (2):100-103.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10055-0024

License: NA

Published Online: 01-12-2017

Copyright Statement:  NA


Abstract

Three-parent baby technique is the latest tool in preventive methods for mitochondrial diseases. It uses the mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) replacement therapy (MRT) to get rid of defective mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The MRT has been made possible by pronuclear transfer and maternal spindle transfer (MST). This shall take away the need of surrogacy and adoption, if practiced with certainty. The MRT replaces defective mtDNA, but its close functioning with the individual's nuclear DNA (nDNA) makes the whole process complicated. This article provides a summarized understanding of the biological mechanisms involved in MRT and the need to consider three-parent in vitro fertilization (IVF). It also discusses the bioethical issues of the technique considering its future implications and whether it is a boon or a bane for our society and subsequent generations.


PDF Share
  1. Chinnery PF. Mitochondrial Disorders overview. In: Adam MP, Ardinger HH, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Bean LJH, Stephens K, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews. Seattle (WA): University of Washington; 2000. [cited 2014 Aug 14]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20301403.
  2. Lui H-S, Chu P-L. Three parent embryo: the therapeutic future for inherited mitochondrial diseases. J Formos Med Assoc 2015 Nov;114(11):1027-1028.
  3. UMDF. The mitochondrial disease community registry. [cited 2017 Apr 5]. Available from: www.umdf.org.
  4. Paternal mtDNA transmission. [cited 2017 Apr 8]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternal_mtDNA_transmission.
  5. Carelli V. Keeping in shape the dogma of mitochondrial DNA maternal inheritance. PloS Genet 2015 May;11(5):e1005179.
  6. Sutovsky P. Ubiquitin-dependent protolysis in mammalian spermatogenesis, fertilization and sperm quality control: killing three birds with one stone. Microsc Res Tech 2003 May;61(1):88-102.
  7. Larsson NG, Clayton DA. Molecular genetic aspects of human mitochondrial disorders. Annu Rev Genet 1995 Dec;29: 151-178.
  8. Border P. Preventing mitochondrial disease. Post note 431. London: Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology of the UK Parliament; 2013. Available from http://www.parliament. UK/business/publications/research/briefingpapers/ POST-PN-43/preventing_ mitochondrial_ disease.pdf.
  9. Taylor RW, Turnbull DM. Mitochondrial DNA mutations in human disease. Nat Rev Genet 2005 May;6(5):389-402.
  10. Garasic MD, Sperling D. Mitochondrial replacement and parenthood. Global Bioethics 2015 Jul;26(3-4):198-205.
  11. Gómez-Tatay L, Hernández-Andreu JM, Aznar J. Mitochondrial modification techniques and ethical issues. J Clin Med 2017 Feb;6(3):E25.
  12. Amato P, Tachibana M, Sparman M, Mitalipov S. Three parent in vitro fertilization: gene replacement for the prevention of inherited mitochondrial diseases. Fertil Steril 2004 Jan;101(1):31-35.
  13. Craven L, Tuppen HA, Greggains GD, Harbottle SJ, Murphy JL, Cree LM, Murdoch AP, Chinnery PF, Taylor RW, Lightowlers RN, et al. Pronuclear transfer in human embryos to prevent transmission of mitochondrial DNA disease. Nature 2010 May;465(7294):82-85.
  14. Tachibana M, Sparman M, Sritanaudomchai H, Ma H, Clepper L, Woodward J, Li Y, Ramsey C, Kolotushkina O, Mitalipov S. Mitochondrial gene replacement in primate offspring and embryonic stem cells. Nature 2009 Sep;461(7262): 367-372.
  15. Hallowell N. Nuffield Council on Bioethics: novel techniques for the prevention of mitochondrial DNA disorders: an ethical review. Genom Soc Policy 2012 Dec;8(2):29-31.
  16. Zhang J. World's first baby born from new procedure using DNA of three people. New York: New Hope Fertility Center;
  17. [cited 2017 Mar 10]. Available from: http://www. theguardian.com/science/2016/sept/27/worlds-first-babyusing- dna-from-three-parents.
  18. Roberts M. IVF: first three-parent baby born to infertile couple. BBC News Online; 2017. [cited 2017 Mar 11]. Available from: www.bbc.com/news/health-38648981.
  19. Reznichenko AS, Huyser C, Pepper MS. Mitochondrial transfer: implications for assisted reproductive technologies. Appl Transl Genom 2016 Dec;11:40-47.
  20. Bentov Y, Yavorska T, Esfandiari N, Jurisicova A, Casper RF. The contribution of mitochondrial function to reproductive ageing. J Assist Reprod Genet 2011 Sep;28(9):773-783.
  21. Reynier P, May-Panloup P, Cheretien MF, Morgan CJ, Jean M, Savagner F, Barriere P, Malthiery Y. Mitochondrial DNA content affects the fertilizability of human oocytes. Mol Hum Reprod 2001 May;7(5):425-429.
  22. Kirkwood TB. Understanding the odd science of aging. Cell 2005 Feb;120(4):437-447.
  23. Mecocci P, Fanó G, Fulle S, MacGarvey U, Shinobu L, Polidori MC, Cherubini A, Vecchiet J, Senin U, Beal MF. Age dependent increases in oxidative damage to DNA, lipids and proteins in human skeletal muscle. Free Radic Biol Med 1999 Feb;26(3-4): 303-308.
  24. Maritim AC, Sanders RA, Watkins JB 3rd. Diabetes, oxidative stress and antioxidants: a review. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 2003 Feb;17(1):24-38.
  25. Bentov Y, Casper RF. The aging oocyte-Can mitochondrial function be improved? Fertil Steril 2013 Jan;99(1):18-22.
  26. Calabrese V, Lodi R, Tonon C, D'Agata V, Sapienza M, Scapagnini G, Mangiameli A, Pennisi G, Stella AM, Butterfield DA. Oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and cellular stress response in Friedreich's ataxia. J Neurol Sci 2005 Jun;233(1-2): 145-162.
  27. Wang Q, Ratchford AM, Chi MM, Schoeller E, Frolova A, Schedl T, Moley KH. Maternal diabetes causes mitochondrial dysfunction and meiotic defects in murine oocytes. Mol Endocrinol 2009 Oct;23(10):1603-1612.
  28. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques: Ethical, Social and Policy considerations. Washington (DC): National Academies Press; 2016. Available from: http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2016/Mitochondrial%20Replacement%20Techniques/MitoEthics-RIB.pdf.
  29. Reinhardt K, Dowling DK, Morrow EH. Mitochondrial replacement, evolution, and the clinic. Science 2013 Sep;341(6152): 1345-1346.
  30. Baylis F. Human nuclear genome transfer (so-called mitochondrial replacement): clearing the underbrush. Bioethics 2017 Jan;31(1):7-19.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.