A new mitochondrial donation technique called spindle nuclear transfer has been successfully used in order to prevent a child from inheriting a mitochondrial disorder:
It's not the first time scientists have created babies that have DNA from three people - that breakthrough began in the late 1990s - but it is an entirely new and significant method. [...] The US team, who travelled to Mexico to carry out the procedure because there are no laws there that prohibit it, used a method that takes all the vital DNA from the mother's egg plus healthy mitochondria from a donor egg to create a healthy new egg that can be fertilised with the father's sperm.
[...] Some have questioned whether we are only now hearing the success story while failed attempts could have gone unreported. Prof Alison Murdoch, part of the team at Newcastle University that has been at the forefront of three person IVF work in the UK, said: "The translation of mitochondrial donation to a clinical procedure is not a race but a goal to be achieved with caution to ensure both safety and reproducibility." Critics say the work is irresponsible. Dr David King from the pro-choice group Human Genetics Alert, said: "It is outrageous that they simply ignored the cautious approach of US regulators and went to Mexico, because they think they know better. Since when is a simplistic "to save lives is the ethical thing to do" a balanced medical ethics approach, especially when no lives were being saved?" Dr Zhang and his team say they will answer these questions when they presents[sic] their findings at a meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in October.
Also at The New York Times and NPR.
First live birth using human oocytes reconstituted by spindle nuclear transfer for mitochondrial DNA mutation causing Leigh syndrome (open, DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2016.08.004) (DX)
As far as I can tell, what you see in the above Fertility and Sterility paper is all that has been released.
(Score: 1) by OrugTor on Thursday September 29 2016, @04:49PM
What pains me about the research is that the only application is for a rich person with defective mitochondrial DNA can propagate his/her bloodline. Heroic and expensive efforts in a world of 7+ billion people, earth's cheapest commodity.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday September 29 2016, @05:27PM
The Jordanian couple have not been identified, but how do you know they are rich?
As for the global population, that problem will solve itself.
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(Score: 1) by OrugTor on Friday September 30 2016, @04:00PM
Not the Jordanian couple, but if the technique becomes a commercial product it will surely be expensive and only affordable by the rich.