Cytoplasm?

[buddyleebaby]

Does anyone have any good resources on this?
I just saw it mentioned on a talk show but I don't have time to watch it. I would love to read up on it later.

It sounds intriguing and well, a little weird!
ETC: I'm trying to find out more about the procedure in which they take the cytoplasm from a donor egg and inject it into the ttc mom's egg..

[jerigirl]

I did a quick Google search for 'cytoplasm donor egg' and this is a bit of what I found. It seems to be a somewhat controversial procedure, there seems to be some concern because the resulting child has genetic material from 3 parents. Also only a small population of patients can be helped by this procedure.

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20000327013520data_trunc_sys.shtml
"The technique could help those women whose embryos have repeatedly failed to develop because of defects in the extranuclear material of their own eggs (the cytoplasm). Although cytoplasmic defects account for less than ten per cent of women attending IVF clinics, these women can currently only be treated by egg donation."


http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/mdd/v04/i12/html/12rules.html
here is a link to an article from 2001 discussing the cytoplasmic transfer technique. The article states "...cytoplasmic transfer was developed to help women with a type of infertility affecting the mitochondria in their eggs. Because the mitochondria are defective, ...the eggs cannot support a pregnancy once they are fertilized."

http://www.dnapolicy.org/science.assist.php
Cytoplasmic transfer (CT) is also known as ooplasmic transfer. The cytoplasm is the portion of the egg that includes fluid and organelles such as mitochondria (the energy powerplants of the cell). In cytoplasmic transfer, the cytoplasm from a donor egg is removed and injected in to the cytoplasm of a recipient egg before fertilization. The mitochondria from the donor cytoplasm may improve the development of the egg. However, the donor mitochondria are present in each cell of the embryo as it develops. In 2001, the FDA issued a letter to investigators stating the CT could be done only as an investigational procedure following FDA permission, effectively prohibiting the procedure.


I couldn't find a date on this info but it appears "this research has been suspended since early July 2001, pending clarification of new requirements suggested by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA)."
http://www.sbivf.com/ivf_cyto.htm


This does seem interesting. I hope this is helpful to you...

jeri

[kep]

Alicia, I thought you meant spaceships and alien abductions. Tee-hee!

Kelli

Proud Mommy to Lukey (2003). Weaned after 3 years of happy nursing!
And Mommy to our newest baby, Joseph, born 3 days after Christmas.

[Fairy]

Seriously, so did I! Of course, that's typical of me. The first thing I think of is ghosts and the evidence they leave behind, alien goo, funky weird stuff. Heh.

[buddyleebaby]

Thank you!

[buddyleebaby]

Kelli and Hil,

Well it is sort of the stuff science fiction books are made of, no?

[Sillygirl]

I am not one to get too freaked out by assisted reproduction techniques in general - when people are trying to have babies the "slippery slope" argument doesn't hold much weight with me. But what many people don't realize is that there is DNA, as in genetic material, outside of the nucleus. Mitochondria, the "powerhouse" organelles of the cell, have their own DNA. They were most likely separately living organisms many millions of years ago. Anyway, the inheritance pattern is different than for the nuclear DNA. It doesn't mix and combine during reproduction - you get all of it from your mom, as do all her kids. The only changes that occur are through mutation. Remember a few years ago, the announcement that we're alld escended from an "Eve" in Africa? That study was done looking at the changes in mitochondrial DNA all over the world and calculating backwards.

Anyway, that's mitochondrial DNA. If you take a cell nucleus from one woman and put it in the egg cell of another woman, there is now genetic material from two women. Add dad's sperm and you have three people contributing genes to the baby. Mitochondrial DNA is read and translated separately - we THINK. But we've learned so much about how DNA works in just the last few years. I think having three genetic parents is, basically, weird science, and I would really worry about unforseen repercussions. I wouldn't want to wish those repercussions on a baby.

[Fairy]

Thie demystification was quite excellent. I completely get it now. Thanks so much!