Mitochondrial diseases are deadly and kills many
children a year. Many mitochondria diseases like Huntington's disease don't
present until adulthood and the carrier has no way of preventing the
transmission of this disease to her children. However, during mitosis one of
the X chromosomes winds up and becomes dormant in the cell. If these are the
chromosomes containing the genes for these mitochondrial diseases, they can
still be passed on to their children while never affecting them. By using this
new technique, a child will receive DNA from the mother and father, with some
from the donor, with no risk of inheriting a mitochondrial DNA.
Mitochondrial DNA is stored in the protein within
the mother’s cells. By using a donor cell that does not contain
mitochondrial disease, we can replace the nucleus of the donor cell with the DNA
from the mother. Once the and DNA is successively transfer the new egg cell
contains DNA from the mother and mitochondrial DNA from the donor that is clear
of diseases. This new healthy egg is then fertilized by the father’s sperm and
DNA. This fetus is now guaranteed to not develop a mitochondrial disease
greatly improving the child’s life.
Once enough children are created through this
process, the population could theoretically eradicate the presence of
mitochondrial disease in a population, not including the chance of mutation
within the mitochondrial DNA.
This article was very informative and changed the way I look at disease. Instead of simply looking at treatments, we are now able to prevent them on a genetic basis. Once this can be perfected we can look at preventing other genetic disease like Sickle-cell anemia and many other.
Why does the X chromosome wind up and become dormant in the cell during mitosis? I am asking this question because I am curious as to why this process must occur. If this process did not happen in cells would there be any mitochondrial diseases? A.M
ReplyDeleteI find this article very interesting because it may be a solution to mitochondrial disease. I did not know that mitochondrial DNA was stored in the protein within the mother's cell. Using donor cells free from mitochondrial disease seems like a safe efficient way to cancel out this devastating issue and that is why I like this article. A.M
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting I had no idea that they could do something like this to prevent the child from having genetic diseases like this. Have they used this process already or is it still being tested? Also did they talk about the prices of doing something like this?- D.B.
ReplyDeleteThey used to do what is called cytoplasmic transfer. The cytoplasm of an egg from a healthy donor is injected into the egg of the mother who has not succeeded with in vitro fertilization and has genetic disorders of the mitochondria. This began in 1996 and the first baby was born in 1997 using this technique, but this technically was not considered to some as mitochondrial donation. Later in 2016, John Zang and his team used a new technique called the spindle transfer mitochondrial donation. They did this in Mexico because there was no law that prohibited this. Right now the problem in testing it are the ethical dilemmas. People are not allowed to create more babies this way because you are making a baby through three parents instead of two and you can purposefully alter a gene line. Other things that are ethically questioned here are using embryos for research and then discarding them, some say scientists are "playing God", and the question of how the child will feel knowing he/she came about from three parents instead of two like everyone else.
Delete-Skyler H.
Those are very good points. Have we seen any side-effects from this treatment? I can only imagine with such a serious transplant there must be side-effects. J. RYAN
DeleteThis is a very interesting and cool way to see how the things we have been learning in class are applicable to the real work and have real world implications for improving peoples lives.
ReplyDelete-Jacob C
While reading this I too thought of how it related to some of the class work we are doing; specifically the case studies. This would make a great case study as it provides many scientific hypothesis', conclusions, and ethical issues when it comes to modifying the embryo.
Delete-SLH
I guess I had never really connected the dots between what I learn in school, and real life implications. This was a very interesting post, and I am glad I was able to finally connect school studies with modern day news. C.W.
ReplyDeleteHow recent is this study? I feel as tough this is too new to even have evidence on... has there been any test runs in humans with this yet? this could effect everyone, and possible change to whole "life" ideals, amazing ideas..... how long until this can change the presence in our population? I have too many questions! haha
ReplyDelete-Siera b
How do you feel about this ethically? Do you think it is okay for 2 different mother's DNA to go into one child? In the case that you were the parent, would you tell your child that 2 female's DNA was used in their "creation"? Or is it completely okay because it was for the child's good? Are we bordering "designer babies" by eliminating these types of diseases? I would like to know how a child that was made this way feels about it. I think there are very blurry ethical lines when it comes to DNA modification and reproduction.
ReplyDeleteK hansen
I found this quite interesting but a thought came to me. How much DNA from the donating mother would be transferred to the child. Also how many complications came up while they were doing this experiment? Did the child have issues later on that they didn't know until the child lives out there life? This experiment might need to go longer before it is open for the public to possibly use.
ReplyDelete-H.S.
These answers must come with time. Thats where ethics comes in. Who would be willing to risk probably what would be thousands of dollars for a treatment that could bring unexpected side affect many years down the road for their "healthy" child. Obviously some have already volunteered but I fear for the affects later on due to the new ideas that are being tested.
Delete-SLH
Are there any other major mitochondrial diseases that are mostly common in children? and if so what were the treatments and procedures they took?
ReplyDelete- M.S
DeleteI found this article for you. It lists a few different types of the diseases. http://www.childneurologyfoundation.org/disorders/mitochondrial-diseases/
DeleteUnfortunately, it doesn't seem there is any treatment for these diseases, at least according to this site. That would make the above study that more important.
Matt N.
This topic goes along with the case study we did in class and whether or not it is ethical to modify an embryo. This however is amazing that they have figured out a way to do this. I feel that if it is beneficial to the child and it wouldn't harm the child if this was done that it would be an ethical decision. Great article.
ReplyDeleteR.W.
How does the chromosome become dormant? What happens to it? B.C.
ReplyDeleteSome people would say that the ends don't justify the means with this... I in many instances that is true. There have been posts and questions about whither or not it is ethical? My ten cents (for what it's worth) is that if we have the technology and ability to better the human race and prevent people from facing life threatening and difficult sicknesses in their life, it's a no brainer. Go for it! -Chad B
ReplyDeleteThe phrase "the ends justifies the means" is an interesting one. It is always interesting the debates that surround this type of thing. Based on what I read about the diseases though, it doesn't seem like there are any other treatment options, so this should definitely get some attention and thought from everyone.
DeleteMatt N.
This is an awesome example of how understanding DNA well enough to influence it can change people's lives. Even though we don't understand everything, we understand enough to make a positive difference.
ReplyDelete-BG
this is a great step in understanding and working with dna. however I feel like this is too new had too experimental to be in use. how long ago was this done? how long have they been working on this level? sb
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty incredible discovery that we have made. I have found it interesting that the mother or father can pas this disease onto their child while never experiencing any of the effects. What is even more incredible is that it doesn't harm the child in the process of replacing the nucleus. Eventually, this will lead to a complete deletion of this mutation in a population because everyone will have cured the disease as it pops up. This article is a a great application from what have learned in class.
ReplyDelete-NP
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this article but it brought up a few questions. You mentioned that if everyone in a population where to do this therapy, they could get rid of the disease. How many generations would this take of people curing the disease as it popped up?
ReplyDeleteNP
I think this is awesome!! If this is all possible that will make such a big difference in the lives of many. I am adopted but the family I was adopted into has family members with Huntingtons disease and it was passed down and my grandpa passed away from it, and currently 3 other aunts and uncles are going through the effects, and we are pretty sure my cousins have it, but they are too young to for sure tell. Anyway, I am sure they would love to be mothers, but don't want to continue to pass it down. I think this would give them a great change of forming a family.
ReplyDeletegomez
How exciting that there are ways to bypass such terrible diseases like Huntington's! Research and articles like these make me excited to follow break throughs in science. This research also makes me wonder if, one day, we might eradicate diseases like huntington's .
ReplyDeleteR.T.
How many different variations of mitochondrial diseases are there? How long would it take to completely eradicate the problem?
ReplyDeleteSkyler H.
This kind of stuff fascinates me. It is mind boggling to think how far medical technology has come. I wonder how much this procedure would cost. Is it cheap enough to be available to the masses? I'm curious if it would be possible to cure all genetic diseases by splicing in genetic material from a third parent. - T Anderson
ReplyDeleteTell me if I'm wrong, but this sounds a lot like the third case study that we had to do. We had to look at the ethical side of these great medical discoveries that could help rid our population of these types of diseases. Do we imply them even if some people find it unethical?
ReplyDelete-SN
Now I'm just rambling because I thought of another comment... We have been talking about evolution and how natural selection is a huge component of it. With natural selection competition is one of the key factors. It kind of sounds messed up, but if disease and mutation is part of our evolution, what happens when we are able to prevent those things in vetro?
DeleteWhen I read this article lots of thought came to my mind. We just finished learning about natural selection and how traits that affect survival are eliminated. Originally humans who had MS died at a young age now I understand this was natural selection working on preventing that disorder to pass on to other generations. But now we have came up with lots of medication that can allow MS people to grow into adulthood and have their own families but still they have the possibility to pass it on. Im not exactly sure if its around the same kind of disease but I think this could be a way around that and this way have a possibility for MS adults to have healthy children and get rid of diseases that are hereditary.
ReplyDeleteSteph S.
I was just having the same train of thought as you with connecting this article with the natural selection that we just talked about in class. Don't get me wrong, I think that it's amazing that we now have the knowledge and skill to be able to cure these diseases. But after learning about this in class, should we get rid of diseases that are hereditary?
Delete-SN
I really enjoyed this article! It reminded me of one of the case studies we had to do! I think it's amazing that technology has come so far but it makes me wonder how expensive this process would be. How long does it take? Questions like this come to my mind when genetically changing the fetus.
ReplyDelete-B.N.K.
I enjoyed reading this post. I did not know that mitochondrial diseases were that dangerous. It's pretty cool that science has found away around it by inserting someone else's DNA into the embryo. -EH
ReplyDeleteHow expensive is this process? Is it even a possibility for families who are most likely already stacked with medical bills to afford such an operation? I guess if they are wanting a child of their own any cost would be worth it.
ReplyDelete-SLH