First Fix For Mitochondrial Diseases
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Publicado: 29 de noviembre de 2012
First fix for mitochondrial diseases
Posted by Victoria Stern
[Entry posted at 26th August 2009 06:00 PM GMT]
Researchers have for the first time succeeded in replacing defectivemitochondrial genomes with healthy ones in monkey embryos--a technique that could be used to prevent children from inheriting a variety of incurable genetic diseases caused by defective mitochondrial genes, theyreport online today (August 26) in Nature.
A mitochondrion
Image: Wikipedia
"The general idea of preventing mitochondrial diseases by altering egg cells has been around for quite a while now,"David Samuels, a professor of molecular physiology and biophysics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told The Scientist in an email. "The difficulty has been in working out how to actuallycarry out the procedure without harming the egg cell," added Samuels, who was not involved in the study.
Mitochondria, which generate most of the cell's energy supply, contain their own genome,distinct from the cell's nuclear DNA, which is inherited exclusively through the mother. Mutations in mitochondrial DNA can deplete cells of energy and eventually kill them. Mitochondrial genome defectsare associated with numerous diseases, including types of diabetes and deafness, a form of blindness called Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, and metabolic disorders that cause liver failure.Shoukhrat Mitalipov and his colleagues from Oregon National Primate Research Center devised a way to replace that defective DNA by combining in vitro fertilization with cell surgery to generatefunctional eggs in rhesus monkeys. First, they removed the nucleus from a donor egg cell and replaced it with the nucleus--including nuclear DNA--from the mother's egg cell. They then fertilized the eggwith the father's sperm, creating an oocyte which contains the parents' nuclear genes and another female's healthy mitochondrial genes.
"Mitalipov's group [was] able to find a time in the egg...
Posted by Victoria Stern
[Entry posted at 26th August 2009 06:00 PM GMT]
Researchers have for the first time succeeded in replacing defectivemitochondrial genomes with healthy ones in monkey embryos--a technique that could be used to prevent children from inheriting a variety of incurable genetic diseases caused by defective mitochondrial genes, theyreport online today (August 26) in Nature.
A mitochondrion
Image: Wikipedia
"The general idea of preventing mitochondrial diseases by altering egg cells has been around for quite a while now,"David Samuels, a professor of molecular physiology and biophysics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told The Scientist in an email. "The difficulty has been in working out how to actuallycarry out the procedure without harming the egg cell," added Samuels, who was not involved in the study.
Mitochondria, which generate most of the cell's energy supply, contain their own genome,distinct from the cell's nuclear DNA, which is inherited exclusively through the mother. Mutations in mitochondrial DNA can deplete cells of energy and eventually kill them. Mitochondrial genome defectsare associated with numerous diseases, including types of diabetes and deafness, a form of blindness called Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, and metabolic disorders that cause liver failure.Shoukhrat Mitalipov and his colleagues from Oregon National Primate Research Center devised a way to replace that defective DNA by combining in vitro fertilization with cell surgery to generatefunctional eggs in rhesus monkeys. First, they removed the nucleus from a donor egg cell and replaced it with the nucleus--including nuclear DNA--from the mother's egg cell. They then fertilized the eggwith the father's sperm, creating an oocyte which contains the parents' nuclear genes and another female's healthy mitochondrial genes.
"Mitalipov's group [was] able to find a time in the egg...
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