Three’s a Crowd

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 2-4
Author(s):  
Jo Markette ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Replacement Therapy ◽  
Mitochondrial Disease ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Married Couple ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy ◽  
The Gift

Undoubtedly, the deep pain associated with mitochondrial disease tempts suffering families to grasp at any scientific solution that promises hope. Yet the high stakes do not justify mitochondrial replacement. While biotechnology allows scientists to reconstruct embryos, the serious ethical concerns surrounding this procedure negate its liceity. The gift of human life and its inestimable and irreplaceable value are reduced to a person’s utility as components of a manufactured product. Additionally, the sexual union between a married couple is denied its nature of exclusivity. Finally, those most vulnerable face possible exploitation and experimentation: poverty-stricken women who seek recompense for their sex genes, and preborn children who face the unknown ramifications of germ-line alteration. While compassion drives us to find a remedy for mitochondrial disease, strong evidence suggests that mitochondrial replacement therapy fails to meet this need.

Germ-Line Therapy to Cure Mitochondrial Disease: Protocol and Ethics of In Vitro Ovum Nuclear Transplantation

1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald S. Rubenstein ◽  
David C. Thomasma ◽  
Eric A. Schon ◽  
Michael J. Zinaman
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Disease ◽  
Genetic Disease ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Nuclear Transplantation ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Line Therapy ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Line Level

The combination of genuine ethical concerns and fear of learning to use germ-line therapy for human disease must now be confronted. Until now, no established techniques were available to perform this treatment on a human. Through an integration of several fields of science and medicine, we have developed a nine step protocol at the germ-line level for the curative treatment of a genetic disease. Our purpose in this paper is to provide the first method to apply germ-line therapy to treat those not yet born, who are destined to have a life threatening, or a severely debilitating genetic disease. We hope this proposal will initiate the process of a thorough analysis from both the scientific and ethical communities. As such, this proposal can be useful for official groups studying the advantages and disadvantages of germ-line therapy.

scholarly journals Development of mitochondrial replacement therapy: A review

Heliyon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. e04643
Author(s):  
Hitika Sharma ◽  
Drishtant Singh ◽  
Ankush Mahant ◽  
Satwinder Kaur Sohal ◽  
Anup Kumar Kesavan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Replacement Therapy ◽  
Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy

scholarly journals Modulating mitochondrial quality in disease transmission: towards enabling mitochondrial DNA disease carriers to have healthy children

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 1091-1100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Diot ◽  
Eszter Dombi ◽  
Tiffany Lodge ◽  
Chunyan Liao ◽  
Karl Morten ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Replacement Therapy ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Stochastic Dynamics ◽  
Genetic Diagnosis ◽  
Healthy Children ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Incurable Disease ◽  
Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy ◽  
Quality Control Mechanism ◽  
Cellular Components

One in 400 people has a maternally inherited mutation in mtDNA potentially causing incurable disease. In so-called heteroplasmic disease, mutant and normal mtDNA co-exist in the cells of carrier women. Disease severity depends on the proportion of inherited abnormal mtDNA molecules. Families who have had a child die of severe, maternally inherited mtDNA disease need reliable information on the risk of recurrence in future pregnancies. However, prenatal diagnosis and even estimates of risk are fraught with uncertainty because of the complex and stochastic dynamics of heteroplasmy. These complications include an mtDNA bottleneck, whereby hard-to-predict fluctuations in the proportions of mutant and normal mtDNA may arise between generations. In ‘mitochondrial replacement therapy’ (MRT), damaged mitochondria are replaced with healthy ones in early human development, using nuclear transfer. We are developing non-invasive alternatives, notably activating autophagy, a cellular quality control mechanism, in which damaged cellular components are engulfed by autophagosomes. This approach could be used in combination with MRT or with the regular management, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Mathematical theory, supported by recent experiments, suggests that this strategy may be fruitful in controlling heteroplasmy. Using mice that are transgenic for fluorescent LC3 (the hallmark of autophagy) we quantified autophagosomes in cleavage stage embryos. We confirmed that the autophagosome count peaks in four-cell embryos and this correlates with a drop in the mtDNA content of the whole embryo. This suggests removal by mitophagy (mitochondria-specific autophagy). We suggest that modulating heteroplasmy by activating mitophagy may be a useful complement to mitochondrial replacement therapy.

scholarly journals Environmental Ecology versus Human Ecology

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 10-22
Author(s):  
Szczepan Szpoton
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Human Ecology ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The Gift

A collation of environmental ecology with human ecology was the essence of the article. The field of the research included the topics: blending the range of care for ecosystem with the responsibility for our own human nature; presenting a connection between sexuality and procreation concentrated on the gift of marital unity yet protecting the dignity of human procreation; pointing at the areas of human life where the “ecological conversion” takes place.

scholarly journals Mitochondrial replacement therapy and parenthood

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 198-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirko Daniel Garasic ◽  
Daniel Sperling
Keyword(s):  
Replacement Therapy ◽  
Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document