World IVF Day 2025: What is Mitochondrial Therapy, the science of 3-parent babies?

 

On World IVF Day, let’s look beyond conventional fertility treatments to a bold frontier in reproductive medicine. Sometimes called “3-parent IVF,” this scientific breakthrough may help families deal with inherited genetic disorders. While still under close scrutiny worldwide, MRT offers the chance to break cycles of illness and give future generations a stronger, healthier start, especially for women worried about passing on  life-limiting diseases.

A recent study in The New England Journal of Medicine reports on eight healthy infants born following mitochondrial replacement therapy (also known as mitochondrial donation or pronuclear transfer), in one of the largest clinical applications of its kind. Conducted at Newcastle University and authorised under the UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the technique replaces a mother’s faulty mitochondria with healthy donor mitochondria while preserving her own nuclear DNA.