Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy (MRT):

Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy (MRT) is a groundbreaking reproductive technique designed to prevent mothers from passing mitochondrial diseases to their children. These diseases, which affect the energy-producing structures (mitochondria) within cells, are inherited exclusively from the mother. MRT replaces the mother's defective mitochondria with healthy mitochondria from a donor egg, allowing for healthy embryonic development.The two main MRT methods are pronuclear transfer and maternal spindle transfer. In pronuclear transfer, an embryo is created from the parents' egg and sperm, then the nuclear DNA is transferred to a donor embryo with healthy mitochondria. In maternal spindle transfer, the mother’s nuclear DNA is transferred to a donor egg with healthy mitochondria before fertilization with the father’s sperm.MRT results in an embryo with DNA from three individuals: nuclear DNA from both parents and mitochondrial DNA from the donor. This therapy, often called “three-parent IVF,” offers families with mitochondrial diseases the chance to have genetically related children free from such disorders.