DNA Transplantation Yields Monkeys with One Father, Two Mothers
The technique could cure genetic problems in human babies In a procedure that's sure to lead to plenty of interesting family dinners, scientists have created monkeys that have one father, but two genetic mothers. The scientists created these hybrids by transplanting mitochondrial DNA into the monkey embryo, opening up the possibility that this technique could be used to produce healthy children for human women who have mitochondrial DNA disorders. To create the hybrids, researchers from the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health and Science University transplanted the DNA of a monkey with damaged mitochondrial DNA into the cells of a monkey with healthy mitochondrial DNA. They managed to produce 15 viable embryos, that were then planted into nine host mothers. Four of the monkeys have already been born: a pair of twins named Mito and Tracker, and two other monkeys named Spindler...