Published on September 10, 2005 at 1:49 PM
Scientists in Britain have been given permission to create a human embryo that will have genetic material from two mothers.
The team of scientists from Newcastle University aim to transfer the pro-nuclei, the components of a human embryo nucleus, made by one man and woman, into an unfertilised egg from another woman.
This groundbreaking work is aimed at preventing mothers from passing certain genetic diseases on to their unborn babies.
Such diseases, which are known as mitochondrial, arise from DNA found outside the nucleus and are inherited separately from DNA in the nucleus.
As the mitochondria are the "powerhouse" of the cell, they produce most of the energy that people need to grow and live.
The main organs in the body that demand a lot of energy to work properly, such as the brain, heart and kidney, are particularly dependent on well functioning mitochondria.
Apparently a unique feature of mitochondria is that they have their own DNA, which is inherited from the mother only.
However should this DNA be faulty, then children can be at risk of developing a mitochondrial disease.
These are the diseases which damage the cells of the brain, heart, liver, kidney and skeletal muscles and confine sufferers to a wheelchair.
There is at present no known cure.
It seems that studies in mice have shown that it is possible to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial disease by moving the nucleus from an egg containing bad mitochondria to another egg, which only contains good mitochondria.