Hastings Cent Rep. 2017 Sep;47(5):7-9. doi: 10.1002/hast.763.
The United Kingdom is the first and so far only country to pass explicit legislation allowing for the licensed use of the new reproductive technology known as mitochondrial replacement therapy. The techniques used in this technology may prevent the transmission of mitochondrial DNA diseases, but they are controversial because they involve the manipulation of oocytes or embryos and the transfer of genetic material. Some commentators have even suggested that MRT constitutes germline genome modification. All eyes were on the United Kingdom as the most likely location for the first MRT birth, so it was a shock when, on September 27, 2016, an announcement went out that the first baby to result from use of the intervention had already been born. In New York City, United States-based scientist John Zhang used maternal spindle transfer (one of the recognized MRT methods) to generate five embryos for a woman carrying oocytes with deleterious mutations of the mitochondrial DNA. Zhang then shipped the only euploid embryo to Mexico, where it was transferred to the mother's uterus. Zhang's team's travel across international borders to carry out experimental procedures represents a form of scientific tourism that has not been properly ethically explored; it can, however, have seriously detrimental effects for developing countries.
英国是第一个也是迄今为止唯一一个通过明确立法允许使用新的生殖技术——线粒体置换疗法的国家。该技术中使用的技术可以防止线粒体 DNA 疾病的传播，但它们存在争议，因为它们涉及到卵母细胞或胚胎的操作以及遗传物质的转移。一些评论员甚至认为 MRT 构成了种系基因组修饰。由于英国最有可能成为第一个 MRT 婴儿诞生的地方，因此，当 2016 年 9 月 27 日宣布第一个使用该干预措施的婴儿已经出生时，人们感到震惊。在美国纽约市的科学家约翰·张（John Zhang）使用母体纺锤体转移（公认的 MRT 方法之一）为一名携带线粒体 DNA 有害突变的卵母细胞的女性生成了五个胚胎。然后，张将唯一的整倍体胚胎运往墨西哥，在那里将其转移到母亲的子宫中。张的团队跨境旅行以进行实验程序代表了一种尚未经过适当伦理探索的科学旅游形式；然而，它可能对发展中国家产生严重的不利影响。
