Mitochondrial replacement techniques, Mexico and the legal unknowns

It is not every day that we can examine the details of the first use of a new reproductive technology. But the first live birth of a baby following the use of a mitochondrial replacement technique (MRT) in IVF last year gives a window into just this. The case (see BioNews 895) – with procedures carried out in both the US and Mexico – also raises legal questions.

The birth garnered a huge amount of attention after New Scientist magazine broke the news last September. MRT is a technique that aids women affected by a heritable mitochondrial disease to have genetically-related children free from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) disorders. These cause neuromuscular diseases that can have devastating effects, including heart and major organ failure, dementia, stroke, blindness, deafness, infant encephalopathy, and premature death.

From the moment the news broke until a paper detailing the case was published on 3 April this year (see BioNews 895), the only technical information we had about this experimental procedure came from three sources: a short conference abstract, press interviews...