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It's been a topic of debate over the past few weeks. Should the FDA allow scientists to alter the mitochondria in a mother's egg in order to produce a healthy baby?
The procedure would remove mutated mitochondria, essentially a cell's power source, from the egg, theoretically preventing the child from having a mitochondrial disease.
"Instead of getting like a whole donor egg, you get the mitochondria or that part of the egg that contains the mitochondria," says NYU Langone OBGYN Department Chair Dr. David Keefe.
The procedure is also being considered for women with infertility issues that may be caused by mutated mitochondria.
NYU Langone Fertility specialist Dr. David Keefe, helped pioneer the technique being used and sits on the advisory panel that consults with the FDA committee handling the approval of these procedures. It was performed successfully in monkeys, but there are still many lingering questions.
"The monkeys are just newly born. So we'd like to see did they grow up normally, do they behave normally and probably more importantly do they behave normally in a realistic environment," says...
The procedure would remove mutated mitochondria, essentially a cell's power source, from the egg, theoretically preventing the child from having a mitochondrial disease.
"Instead of getting like a whole donor egg, you get the mitochondria or that part of the egg that contains the mitochondria," says NYU Langone OBGYN Department Chair Dr. David Keefe.
The procedure is also being considered for women with infertility issues that may be caused by mutated mitochondria.
NYU Langone Fertility specialist Dr. David Keefe, helped pioneer the technique being used and sits on the advisory panel that consults with the FDA committee handling the approval of these procedures. It was performed successfully in monkeys, but there are still many lingering questions.
"The monkeys are just newly born. So we'd like to see did they grow up normally, do they behave normally and probably more importantly do they behave normally in a realistic environment," says...