I know IVF mtDNA donation has been going on successfully in the UK but that is for fertilization and preventing Mitochondrial disease. I've looked around for something similar for folks already born and found something similar but it had to do with the production of hemoglobin. I've attached the link and am hoping maybe somebody can make a connection if it has not already been done.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/09/15/gene-therapy-saves-patient-from-lifetime-of-blood-transfusions/#.Vy712vkrKM8
I have no experience on mitocondrial DNA infusion, but I may say that there are no evidences that an infusion of mtDNA may modify a mitochondrial genetic disease.
The reason for this skeptical view of the subject is that there is no known vector that can deliver the mtDNA inside the mitochondria. So far viruses have been used to deliver genes into the cell. But there is no known mechanism to deliver a gene inside the mitochondria.
Sounds like a research question. Thanks for the reply.
Maybe the insertion of a gene into the mitochondria itself is not possible but perhaps the wholesale replacement of mitochondria by introducing healthy mitochondria?
This is an article that suggests mitochondria can move between cells, which surprised me.
http://www.pnas.org/content/103/5/1283.long
Dear Stephen
I read the article you suggested and effectively it seems that mitochondria may migrate from one cell to another. The molecular mechanism of this migration is not adequately or clearly decribed in the article. The interchange of mitochondria between cells may be an interesting phenomenon that deserves further research. I still think that mtDNA alone cannot migrate.
Good luck with your research. It would be nice if you can find mtDNA migration. That would give a new impulse for the treatment of mitochondrial genetic diseases.
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