Page 25 - Revista FRONTAL Edição Especial iMed 12.0

MATERNAL-FETAL

MARY HERBERT MD, FRCP

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE MITOCHONDRIAL ROLE?

AUTHOR
BEATRIZ ANDRADE

Mary Herbert, MD, FRCP is a Professor of Herbert, “the close integration of clinical search for the treatment of inherited mito-
Reproductive Biology at Newcastle Univer- and research teams is a cornerstone of chondrial diseases. Her deep understanding
sity and Honorary Consultant Clinical Scien- the research programme in the lab”. With of meiotic maturation process in oocytes -
tist at upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation her team, she aims to advance knowledge result of years of research - coupled with the
Trust. Professor Herbert is currently part of in the biology of germ cells and early em- development of methodologies for oocyte
the Senior Scientific Staff of the Newcastle bryos to improve the understanding and manipulation, has been essential for the
Fertility Centre and a principal investigator treatment of infertility and extend the creation of the first UK program of replace-
in the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial scope of reproductive technologies to ment therapies for inherited mitochondrial
Research at Newcastle University's Medical prevent disease transmission through the disease emotively termed “three-person
School. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Col- female germline. IVF”. These 'three-parent babies', born from
lege of Pathologists and a member of the In fact, seeing how mitochondrial dis- mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT),
scientific advisory board for the Association ease was able to devastate entire families, have genetic material from three people:
of Clinical Embryologists in the UK. Mary Herbert invested her efforts in the de- the two parents and one donor female who
As a clinical embryologist, Herbert estab- velopment of a groundbreaking technique gives their healthy egg’s mitochondria to be
lished the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratory to transfer healthy mitochondria to ferti- used instead of the mother's. The donor mi-
at Newcastle Fertility Centre in 1990 and was lized embryos with the hope of removing tochondria hold about 37 genes, equivalent
awarded a PhD from Newcastle University in the risk of transmitting maternal disease to to 0.2% of the embryo’s whole genome.
1998 on the topic of oocyte calcium signaling. coming generations. Her work aims to pro- Following five years of intense labora-
Professor Herbert combines her world- vide seamless transition between laborato- tory work, Professor Herbert and her team
class basic biology with clinical research ry research and clinical services. “At heart developed the skills to manipulate the cells
and now leads a closely integrated team I'm a scientist, in charge of a lab, and trying during this process until around 9 in 10 sur-
of research and clinical scientists working to help solve the major puzzles of human vive the process and around half of the re-
side by side in a program of basic, transla- reproductive biology”, she says. sulting zygotes successfully develop to the
tional and clinical science. According to Herbert’s team is at the forefront of re- blastocyst stage, meaning the chances of
pregnancy with this method following IVF
are reasonable and that the child will be
free from genetic disease.
Herbert’s skills in communication also
played a critical role in implementing a
change in UK law to bring this technology
under regulation, allowing it to be offered in
clinical treatment. Despite some scientists
have questioned the ethics of the proce-
dure, saying it could open the door to “ge-
netically-modified 'designer' babies”, the
UK became the first country to formally ap-
prove the technique, in 2015.
The first babies conceived using
three-person IVF were born in 2017, provid-
ing hope for women who carry maternally
inherited genetic diseases and leading us
toward a future where certain mitochon-
drial diseases become just part of a family's
remote history.

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