In a medical revolution in Greece, a baby boy was born out of a three-person IVF technique. This method is known as the Maternal Spindle transfer, where the DNA of the mother egg and the donor egg is switched in order to avoid any transfer of genetic disorders.
According to an article by TIME, the mother, Matina Karavokyri went through four unsuccessful cycles of IVF before she tried this technique.
Maternal Spindle Transfer is a method in which the DNA from the mother’s egg is transferred to a donor egg which has been emptied of its DNA, it is then fertilised by the donor sperm and developed into an embryo and transferred for pregnancy.
This method is usually used for women suffering from mitochondrial diseases. While switching the DNA from the mother’s egg to the donor egg, this risk is reduced. This technique was also used in Mexico in 2016, to avoid transfer of mitochondrial disease to the baby, and in Ukraine in 2017.
The baby was the first one in the world to be born out of this technique where the mother did not suffer from any mitochondrial disease. According to a report from CNN, experts have raised questions regarding ethics of using this technique on people who do not suffer from mitochondrial diseases.
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