Late breaking news from the Bruderhofs of the Godless European Union.
When a sperm fertilizes an egg, everything the new person will become is encoded in the DNA inside the the nucleus of the newly created single cell organism. Well, not quite. Outside the nucleus are bodies called mitochondria. These little intracellular bodies perform the metabolic tasks that keep the cells healthy and happy. Inside of each mitochondria is a little snippet of DNA, which allows it to reproduce itself. Mitochondria exist intact within the egg at the time of conception and so mitochondrial DNA is passed directly from mother to child, unchanged by the sexual swap of genetic material that occurs in fertilization.
Like all genetic material, mitochondrial DNA is subject to breakage. When this happens the mitochondria produced are faulty and can malfunction. This interferes with intracellular metabolism, causing a host of catastrophic degenerative diseases.
In Europe, scientists have found these diseases can be avoided by transferring the nucleus of a fertilized egg that contains damaged mitochondrial DNA into a donor egg with healthy mitochondria from which the nucleus has been removed. This new "composite" gamete can be implanted into a uterus and the resulting child will have a healthy active intracellular metabolism.
The technology to do all this is off the shelf stuff, that research labs and fertility clinics have been doing routinely for a generation. Whole categories of diseases which affect millions worldwide could now be eliminated.
In this country, where the practice of reproductive medicine is controlled by Creationist, "Culture of Life", Dickwads, who believe the Universe was created whole cloth six thousand years ago, during a week long bender, by a Deity high on Sumerian beer, this procedure will never be performed. What is our World coming to?
Remember the almost words of George Orwell.
"Six toes good, five toes bad."
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