Dr. Michio Hirano, Chief of the Neuromuscular Division at Columbia University Medical Center, and Kris Engelstad MS CGC, a board-certified genetic counselor and program coordinator at Columbia University Medical Center, discuss Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy.
Learn more about MRT, also known in the media as three-person babies.
Topics of discussion include:
- Family planning options are severely limited for women carriers of DNA mutations in the mitochondrial genome.
- There is an urgent clinical need to develop IVF techniques to reduce/eliminate the transmission of mitochondrial genome DNA mutations from mother to offspring.
- Mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) is a promising technique for female carriers.
- Continued research and development of MRT is necessary for future clinical use.
- Adult female carriers and their male partners can participate in this research by donating oocytes/sperm for the production of viable zygotes using MRT.
