In BriefPhysicians disclosed more about how they implanted a 3-parentfertilized egg into a 36-year-old woman with a history of geneticillness and failed pregnancies. The procedure resulted in the birthof a healthy baby boy in 2016. When Three People Make a Baby

The long-held belief that we get half our genes from our father and the other half from our mother may not be as accurate as we once thought. In fact, scientistshave discovered that your mothers genes might actually have a few inches on that of your fathers in the genetic tug-of-war involving your genetic makeup.

The culprit is the mitochondria, which, thanks to memes, we all know is the powerhouse of the cell butthe mitochondria ismuch more than that when it comes to fertilization. Sometimes, in the case of genetic diseases, its function can be deadly. But thanks to pioneer physicianJohn Zhangand his team, families with a known history of genetic diseases may have the opportunity to raise a healthy child through the conception ofa 3-parent-baby.

Zhangs team has provided more details about a healthyconception they helped bring about in a paper published on 3 April in Reproductive Biomedicine Online. Zhang used mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) to helpa 36-year-old woman to conceive a child. While the womanis asymptomatic of Leigh syndrome, she had already hadfour pregnancy losses, and herfamily history was marked with the disease. Leigh syndrome is a severe neurobiological disorder that impairs the central nervous system and becomes apparent in the first year of life, often leading to death several years later.

Twenty percent of all Leigh syndrome cases are linked to mitochondrial inheritance from the mother, which is why Zhangs method of collecting donor immature egg cells(from the third person) is provingto be an effective gene therapy. In his case study, Zhangs team collected 28healthy donor immature egg cells and verified if the mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) was safe from pathogenic mutations for insertion. A doctor collected 29 eggs from the mother, but only five were suitable for the procedure.

Usingan electrofusion technique, which combines different cells with an electric current, the team transferred the mothers genome into a donated egg with healthy mitochondria. The hybrid egg was then fertilized by the fathers sperm and transferred to the mothers womb.

The MRT technique proved successful with the birth of a healthy male child in 2016. While 25percent of themothers total mitochondria was affected by Leigh syndrome, the disease affected only two to nine percent of the childsmitochondria.

In accordance with current U.S. federal law, the fertilized egg with the mothers genome and donors cytoplasm was implanted in the mother in a fertility clinic in Mexico. The previousprocedures, including egg collection, mitochondrial replacement, and fertilization, were conducted in a private fertility clinic in New York.

While the U.K. leads the world in providing MRT, the U.S. has a difficult history with the technique.As of last year, the FDA greenlighted MRT with male embryos only. This is because any family history of mitochondrial disease would end with themale, as he cannot significantly pass on harmful mitochondrial DNA to any of his potential offspring. Even with the FDAs approval, the 2016congressional budgetprohibits the implantation of modified embryos into any woman, which is why Zhangs team went to Mexico.

While many are terrified that MRT will evolveinto eugenics and designer babies, its obvious that without MRT, Zhangs patient may have never had her little boy.

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Genetics 2.0: Scientists Have Officially Created New Kind of Child - Futurism