Overview

• Twenty-two women at high risk underwent licensed pronuclear transfer at Newcastle Fertility Centre, yielding eight births including a set of twins and one ongoing pregnancy.
• The New England Journal of Medicine publications provide the first comprehensive outcomes for the program, showing each child meets developmental milestones and exhibits no signs of mitochondrial disease.
• Genetic tests detected mitochondrial DNA carryover from five to sixteen percent in three children, levels below the disease threshold but prompting continued surveillance.
• Pronuclear transfer prevents transmission of pathogenic mitochondria by moving the nucleus of a fertilized egg into a donor egg with healthy mitochondria.
• The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority approves each case under UK law and will oversee ongoing health monitoring of the children.