The first clinical pilot study in the world to validate a assisted reproductive technique known as Maternal Spindle Transfer (MST) has concluded with six births in patients with fertility problems that accumulated failures in ‘in vitro’ fertilization.
The results of the study, which have just been published online in the journal Fertility and Sterility as a preliminary print version, show that this technique may have value as a treatment against challenging types of infertilityas explained by the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) of the University of Barcelona in a statement.
This innovative technique has been developed by the Embryotools center -based in the PCB- during the last ten years. The trial was carried out in Greeceat the Institute of Life-IASO IVF Center, and involved a multidisciplinary team of scientists from international institutions, such as Embryotools; Juno Genetics (UK); the University of Oxford (UK) and the Oregon Health and Science University (USA).
The researchers carried out a total of 28 maternal spindle transfer attempts, which resulted in the birth of six babies. The state of health and development of the children – some are now over four years old – is totally normal, which provides peace of mind and confidence in the safety of this method. The study also revealed important information about the potential use of MST for reduce risk or prevent disease transmission in patients carrying pathogenic mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).
an advanced technique
Maternal spindle transfer is a advanced laboratory technique which is part of the methods known collectively as mitochondrial replacement therapies (MRTs). These techniques were originally proposed to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial diseases and its application for this clinical purpose is already allowed in some countriessuch as the UK and Australia.
The method consists of transferring the patient’s genetic material from her own egg to a donated egg that has previously had its genetic material extracted. Currently, the only strategy available for patients producing poor quality eggs is undergo in vitro fertilization treatments (IVF) using donated eggs or embryos.