A spindle transfer is a genetic

Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....

 manipulation technique where the donor's mitochondrial DNA is not transferred to the receiving egg. It may be used to treat mitochondrial disease

Mitochondrial disease

Mitochondrial diseases are a group of disorders caused by dysfunctional mitochondria, the organelles that are the "powerhouses" of the cell. Mitochondria are found in every cell of the human body except red blood cells...

s.

History

In an article published in Nature

Nature (journal)

Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...

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. This has the implication that any genetic problems which may be transferred from mother to offspring through mitochondrial DNA can be avoided. 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.

Procedure

The technique involves taking nuclear DNA

Nuclear DNA

Nuclear DNA, nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid , is DNA contained within a nucleus of eukaryotic organisms. In mammals and vertebrates, nuclear DNA encodes more of the genome than the mitochondrial DNA and is composed of information inherited from two parents, one male, and one female, rather than...

 from an egg cell and transferring that DNA into another egg cell, leaving the defective mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...

 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 monkey

Monkey

A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...

s were used in recent experiments.

Implications

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.