"UK to Approve Technique to Create Babies From 3 People"
Feb 4, 2015 17:22:46 GMT -5
Post by twinkie0612 on Feb 4, 2015 17:22:46 GMT -5
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From what I understand is there are times when normal chromosome embryos fail to grow because the of mitochondrial issues, which makes complete sense when you think of the mitochondria as the "powerhouse" to a cell, the embryos just run out of steam. I know a someone whose doctor proposed mitochondrial issues as a potential explanation for their failed IVF cycles, this person went on to get pregnant through donor egg. If this was the issue for their infertility a treatment like this could allow her and her husband to have genetic children. There are currently no treatments for mitochondria.
I do wonder how long it would take for a treatment like this to be approved in the US. Several years ago a somewhat similar treatment was studied where cytoplasm from a healthy egg was injected into the poor quality eggs of an IVF patient. The idea was that it was issues with they cytoplasm that caused the poor embryo quality, so young cytoplasm plus mothers DNA and father's sperm would create a viable embryo. The treatment was kind of haulted by the FDA and no docotors or clinics have been able to get approval for research. From what I have read the issue with this treatment was that it didn't "cure" any disease, only improved success rates for IVF patients.
As someone preparing for their seventh IVF/FET cycle (only 3 have resulted in transfer so far) I am in favor of any treatment that helps a woman give birth to a healthy baby. Like other's have stated, these treatments are more similar to blood donation than they are to creating "designer" babies. Also as someone who is a carrier of a genetic disease (I wouldn't be helped by this treatment), I understand the fear of passing of passing a disease on to my child. I am lucky that the disease I carry is an autosomal recessive disease and my husband is not a carrier, which means if we have genetic children they will only be a carrier. I also have dealt with slow growing poor quality embryos. In fact or first IVF our transfer was cancelled because all of our embryos arrested. I was under 30 when I did my first IVF cycle, which generally means that I should have decent egg quality. I have often wondered if I have mitochondrial issues, which would explain the poor egg/embryo quality at a young age.
This is so interesting. I still don't know how I feel about it, but the idea of it is amazing.
I love reading about the advancement of medical treatment. I find it all amazing.