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Post date: Aug 14, 2017 2:53:30 AM
In Fall 2016, Nature reported that Dr. John Zhang had performed a procedure to generate a viable egg that mixes the nucleus from one woman and the cytoplasm from another 'donor' woman. Notably, the fertilized embryo will then have DNA from 3 parents: the father, the nuclear DNA of the 'mother', and the mitochondrial DNA of the donor. In fact, a baby was conceived from this technique and was born in April 2016. Where was this cutting-edge procedure done you may ask...well, in Mexico, of course. That is because the technology is currently illegal in the US as is any research that modifies the genes of an embryo that could be inherited.
Source: Third scientific review of the safety and efficacy of methods to avoid mitochondrial
disease through assisted conception, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, June 2014
Copied from https://www.sciencenews.org/article/three-parent-babies-explained
However, according to this article, Zhang is apparently continuing to market the procedure in the US, now called "HER IVF, or Human Egg Rejuvenation In Vitro Fertilization." although the FDA has explicitly banned testing. It seems Zhang is capitalizing on the fear of genetic defects in the eggs of older women by claiming the procedure will "rejuvenate" the egg, despite the fact that it only replaces the cytoplasm, not the nuclear DNA behind chromosomal defects. It should be noted that this procedure is barred because of the hard line against any such research in the US which is considered dangerous and possibly unethical. However, a similar procedure is approved in the UK for woman suffering from diseases linked to the mitochondrial DNA.
Will this research be possible in the US in the near future? Hard to say. Further complications have arisen because the parents of the first trial baby in Mexico have refused to allow followup on the health of the child. This raises the concerns about the ability to identify long-term consequences.
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