Sara Reardon's Terrestrial DNA Complications

The topic that most interests me at this year’s Nobel Conference is mitochondrial DNA transfer. This is a controversial treatment in which a mother’s mitochondrial DNA is swapped for a donor’s mitochondrial DNA. Along with using the resources found on the Nobel Conference webpage, I watched a SciShow video, “Babies with Three Parents,” on YouTube and also read a Nature article, “US Panel Greenlights Creation of Male ‘Three-Person’ Embryos,” written by Sara Reardon, in order to learn more about this new technology. The SciShow video that I watched defined mitochondrial DNA as a set of genetic instructions within our cells. It is made up of 37 genes that are inherited only from our mother’s DNA, and as with the human genome, genetic mutations within the mitochondrial DNA are possible. A mother can easily pass any mitochondrial DNA mutations to her offspring. Certain mutations can cause rare, devastating diseases like LHON, Pearson Syndrome, and Leigh Syndrome. Scientists have also linked mitochondrial DNA mutations to more common diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease (SciShow). The main goal of mitochondrial replacement is to prevent mothers from passing down disabling or even terminal genetic conditions to their children, as stated by the Nature article (Reardon). There are three different …show more content…
The Nature article mentioned that a federal law in the United States has prevented trials of mitochondrial DNA transfer in humans; however, some scientists have researched the practice in other organisms like mice and monkeys. A panel suggested limiting human trials to only male embryos as a safety precaution, since males would be unable to pass modified mitochondrial DNA to their children. Interestingly enough, the United Kingdom approved mitochondrial replacement without restrictions on the sex of the embryos