A spindle transfer (more properly "spindle-chromosomal complex transfer") is a genetic manipulation technique where the donor's mitochondrial DNA is not transferred to the receiving egg. It may be used to treat mitochondrial diseases.
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In an article published in Nature online on 26 August 2009, a team in Oregon headed by Dr. Tachibana made the report of the transfer of maternal DNA without any mitochondrial DNA included in a laboratory monkey.[1] This has the implication that any genetic problems which may be transferred from mother to offspring through mitochondrial DNA can be avoided.[2] Teams from the Oregon National Primate Research Center, the Oregon Stem Cell Center and the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Molecular and Medical Genetics at the Oregon Health and Science University were all credited in the study.
The technique involves taking nuclear DNA from an egg cell and transferring that DNA into another egg cell, leaving the defective mitochondrial DNA behind. The cell is then implanted using in-vitro fertilization techniques. The final mitochondrial DNA, however, is from the receiving egg cell, causing the original donor's mitochondrial DNA to not be passed on to the eventual offspring.
Genetic analysis may then be utilized to confirm that the mother's mitochondrial DNA is not part of the final DNA makeup.
Macaca mulatta monkeys were used in recent experiments.
The implications is that a mother who has one of the 150 or so documented syndromes or diseases due to a mitchondral DNA aberration would be able to, using this technique, have children without the mitochondrial issues. This type of human genetic engineering is already being used on a small scale to allow infertile women with genetic defects in their mitochondria to have children.[3]