May 23, 2019

interplay between mitochondria and nucleus may have implications for mitochondrial donation treatment

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have identified new ways in which mitochondria, the ‘batteries’ that produce our energy, interact with the cell’s nucleus. The results are to be published in the journal Science.

The study may have implications for mitochondrial donation treatment, a new technique licensed for use in the UK to prevent the transmission from mother to child of potentially devastating mitochondrial diseases.

This is the first major population study to use data from the UK-wide 100,000 Genomes Project and its National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded pilot project.

Speakers:

Professor Patrick Chinnery – Professor of Neurology, Programme Lead MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, and Head of Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge (via Skype)

Dr Ernest Turro – Senior Research Associate in the Department of Haematology and MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge

Professor Mark Caulfield – Chief Executive of Genomics England and Co-Director of the William Harvey Research Institute at Queen Mary University of London

Dr Wei Wei – MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, University of Cambridge