Overview

• The New England Journal of Medicine published two papers today detailing eight live births and one ongoing pregnancy resulting from 22 pronuclear transfer procedures at the Newcastle Fertility Centre.
• Among the eight children, genetic analysis detected no mutant mitochondria in five infants and low-level carryover (5–16%) in three, all below the threshold for clinical disease.
• All four boys and four girls are healthy, meeting developmental milestones from infancy into toddlerhood without signs of mitochondrial disorders.
• The UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority approves mitochondrial donation on a case-by-case basis under pioneering 2015 legislation that licenses only Newcastle Fertility Centre to perform the technique.
• Researchers plan long-term follow-up of the children to monitor mitochondrial carryover, refine the technique and guide potential broader adoption.