It has the genetic material of three people: According to a conference announcement and a report by the “New Scientist” is in the world came for the first Time a Baby to the world, that is, in this extent, the genetic material of three people. Reason for the procedure, a hereditary disease of the mother, had previously transferred already to two children.
The media report that the two parents of Jordan is derived, for the treatment they sought, however, the Council, in the case of John Zhang of New Hope Fertility Center in New York City. The treatment was carried out for legal reasons then in Mexico. In purely formal terms, in-vitro fertilization with an egg cell that carries the genetic material of three people is allowed, only in the UK. There is no case, however, up to now known in which it has been applied.
Outsider genes into the cell’s power plants
A large part of the genome is contained in humans in the cell nucleus. A small part, only one percent, however, in the mitochondria, the power plants of the cell. These are located outside the nucleus. The now-treated mother was even healthy. The genome of its mitochondria contributed information for a rare disease, the so-called Leigh syndrome, which is detrimental to the development of the nervous system.
After several miscarriages the Couple the “New Scientist” , 2005, a girl who died due to the disease, however, at the age of six years. Another child lived, according to the report, only eight months. To prevent the repeated, required the Couple to have a third child, the mitochondria of a healthy donor and the Heiress formations of a third Person.
For this, various techniques exist: In the case of a 2015 in the UK approved method, two eggs are fertilized with the sperm of the father, an egg cell, the actual mother with the sick mitochondria, and an egg of a donor with healthy mitochondria. It is then removed when the Embryo of the egg donor, the nucleus of the cell and the nucleus of the cell from the Embryo to the mother to be replaced. The Baby carries the genetic material of three parents: In the nucleus of the mother and the father, in the mitochondria of the donor.
Already five months old
For the parents who brought the child to the world, had come to this method, however, the question, stated in the report of the “New Scientist”. Because of their Muslim faith, the Couple didn’t want a fertilized ovum (the egg donor) destroyed for their desire to have children. Instead, the New York physician took advantage of Zhang according to the figures, a so-called spindle Transfer.
Here, the nucleus is removed from a fertilized egg cell of the mother and, in a cored but not fertilized egg of a donor. Only after the cell is fertilized with the sperm of the father. In this way, the Team generated according to information from five embryos, of which only one normally developed. This was implanted in the womb of the Jordanian woman, nine months later, she brought her child to the world.
The son is the report of the “New Scientist” , is now five months old and healthy. However, it should be observed whether the genetic disease training. The details of his approach, wants to introduce the team of researchers to the conference of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in October. So far, no independent scientist has, thus, can check the information provided by the New York physician. This is actually common, before new scientific findings are published.
Nineties: Foreign traces in the genome
Strictly speaking, the present case is not the first Baby that was born with the genetic material of three parents. In the nineties, there had been Experiments in which researchers in the sick ova the cytoplasm – the fluid – out of healthy eggs from a donor are injected. The hope was to strengthen the sick ova this way. Also mitochondria of the egg donor, and thus traces of their genetic material in the egg were two of 17 children.
The extent, however, was significantly lower than in the case now, the mixing of the genetic material is not specifically planned. Since several of the children had severe health problems, were recruited for the experiments.