Özge Özkaya, PhD,  —

The United Kingdom has issued its first license for research that involves women with mitochondria disease receiving donated egg components so they can produce healthy children. Newcastle University researchers will use the U.K. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) license to study mitochondrial replacement in 25…

Effects of mitochondrial disease on the digestive system are more widespread than previously thought according to a review article published in the journal Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology. Therefore it is important that the symptoms are recognized as early as possible to initiate appropriate diagnosis and avoid any treatments that might be toxic to mitochondria.

Mitochondrial disease spans a broad group of disorders that can be very heterogeneous. Although understanding of the disease has increased greatly in recent years,  difficulties remain in its diagnosis and management. A review article, “Mitochondrial diseases: advances and issues,” gives an in-depth account of…

CNV Beacon, a gene discovery platform that helps identify the genetic cause of rare diseases will continue to be invested in by the precision medicine company Population Bio.

Regular physical exercise can prevent mitochondria dysfunction according to a study conducted on rats. This finding highlights the importance of physical activity on metabolic homeostasis, or equilibrium. Although the study, which was published in the scientific journal PLOS One, describes healthy mitochondria, a better understanding of the function of healthy mitochondria, can help design better therapies when things go wrong as in the case of mitochondrial disease.

Cells obtained from people with mitochondrial disease can be used to test whether drugs already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat other diseases could also be beneficial in treating mitochondrial disease. This highly personalized strategy uses a patient’s own cells to identify a potential drug that could treat their condition.

Scientists described a method of measuring the function of mitochondria in human skeletal muscles without having to take a muscle biopsy.

A new technique called in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) where any type of adult cell can be reprogramed to become an egg or sperm cell could in theory be used to prevent mitochondrial disease.

The mitochondria of the donor egg should match that of the patient to increase the success of mitochondrial replacement therapy, according to a study published in the leading scientific journal Nature.

Age indirectly influences mitochondrial function by reducing mitochondrial mass and worsens diet‐induced fat accumulation, according to a study conducted on mice. This may in turn increase the risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).