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POSTnote by Peter Border. It was first published on Tuesday, 14 October 2014. It was last updated on Tuesday, 14 October 2014.


Preventing Mitochondrial Disease

Mitochondria convert biological fuels like sugars and fats into the energy a cell needs. Women with a disease caused by faulty mitochondria pass their condition on to their children. Researchers are developing treatments to prevent this by using healthy mitochondria from a female donor. This note describes these treatments and looks at the issues raised by their potential use in IVF.

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Secondary information

Type
Research briefing
Reference
POST-PN-431 
Subjects
Congenital abnormalities Human embryo experiments Ethics IVF Mitochondria
Published by
POST
Link
View this Research briefing on researchbriefings.parliament.uk