February 2015

Controversies concerning mitochondrial replacement therapy

Research on mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) holds the promise of helping women who have, or are at risk of transmitting, mitochondrial disease, but has recently been blocked by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Thus, several critical ethical and policy questions arise. Mitochondrial disease can be devastating for those who have it. Yet existing treatments remain supportive rather than curative. Women confronting this disease have a high chance of having an affected child and limited reproductive alternatives.
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Fertility and Sterility
Editorial Office, American Society for Reproductive Medicine
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Authors

Robert Klitzman, M.D., Mark Toynbee, M.B.B.S., Mark V. Sauer, M.D.

Volume 103, Issue 2, Pages 344-346

Abstract

Research on mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) holds the promise of helping women who have, or are at risk of transmitting, mitochondrial disease, but has recently been blocked by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Thus, several critical ethical and policy questions arise. Mitochondrial disease can be devastating for those who have it. Yet existing treatments remain supportive rather than curative. Women confronting this disease have a high chance of having an affected child and limited reproductive alternatives.

Read the full text at: http://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(14)02288-2/fulltext


Go to the profile of Fertility and Sterility
Fertility and Sterility
Editorial Office, American Society for Reproductive Medicine

Fertility and Sterility® is an international journal for obstetricians, gynecologists, reproductive endocrinologists, urologists, basic scientists and others who treat and investigate problems of infertility and human reproductive disorders. 

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