Bright future for some carriers of genetic diseases: replacing damaged mitochondrial DNA

Some inherited diseases are passed down to children via mutations in mitochondrial DNA. Replacing this damaged mitochondrial DNA with healthy nucleic acid would enable couples to have a normal child with nuclear DNA from both parents, an improvement over egg and sperm donor techniques. Some geneticists estimate that at least 1 in every 200 births has a mitochondrial DNA mutation that could result in an abnormality of some kind so this new technology would serve a large international market.

Since the mitochondrial DNA comes only from the mother, the focus is on the egg. Shoukhrat Mitalipov and his team at the Oregon National Primate Research Center in Beaverton were able to remove the nuclear DNA chromosomes from an unfertilized rhesus monkey egg and replace it with nuclear DNA chromosomes from another monkey. In vitro fertilization produced live offspring whose cells had mitochondrial DNA from one mother and nuclear DNA from another.

David Thorburn, a geneticist specializing in mitochondrial disease at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia called this development "highly innovative and very promising", and because it involved primates, believes that "It should be able to mimic the human situation more closely than mice. If proven safe [in humans] this could provide a huge advance."

Best-in-Class DNA Products Providers:

• Have regular meetings to present data and explain the interpretation, and to allow customer to ask questions and raise concerns
• Compliance with NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules
• File timely status reports to verify that the project is on track and on budget

Top Considerations Before Selecting DNA Products Providers:

With so many players chasing the same goals, conflict of interest becomes a real concern. Make sure that the scientists at the provider you chose are very upfront concerning their other activities, associations and investments.

Key Producers:

1. AMS Biotechnology (Europe) Ltd (amsbio) markets 101 human secretory proteins and 3,000 Human full-length cDNA clones to small and medium-sized manufacturers. ambios’ cDNA libraries were produced from normal and diseased tissues and cell lines that are subjected to rigorous quality control testing. Other DNA products comprise DNA manipulation kits, genomic DNAs, cDNAs from tissues, and thousand of ORF cDNAs and full length cDNA clones. Its expanding catalogue contains 285,000 products. Future plans include adding DNA damage screening, Cell Assays, Tumour Xenograft, and primate and rodent services. amsbio, which was founded in 1987 and restructured in 1997, specializes in Genomics, Proteomics and Immunology . This ISO 9001:2008 registered company ships products to companies around the world from its offices in Switzerland, Germany and the UK.

2. Advanced Analytical Technologies, Inc. (AATI)'s DNA PROfiler is a DNA fragment analysis system which used LED fluorescent to identify organisms from unique genetic fingerprints. The company describes this product as combining "the prominent ADVANTAGES of both DNA sequencing (large number of genotypic datapoints and high throughput capability) and Ribotyping (ease of use and minimal hands on time), creating an identification system that is simple to use, quick to results and easy to operate." AATI, headquartered in Ames IA, recently opened an office in Germany. This privately held company was founded in 1998.

3. United States Biological offers almost any human, mouse, rat, monkey or plant tissue genomic DNA.  These genomic DNAs are ready-to-use for SNP analysis, Southern Blotting and PCR Genomic DNA library construction profiling study in gene expression. Its human genomic DNAs are isolated from over 100 different normal and diseased adult and fetal tissues. United States Biological’s biochemicals, polyclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, cell culture media and molecular biology kits are marketed around the world. Customer service sets them apart. President Warren Shore says that, “There is no voice mail at United States Biological...you always get to speak with humans..." Headquarters are in Swampscott, Massachusetts.

4. Biomatik Corporation's Custom Gene Synthesis Service has extensive experience with lengthy and complex gene sequences and can clone into any vector of the customer's choice or into its standard vector. Other custom services include peptide synthesis, antibody production, gene synthesis and SNP genotyping. Biomatik’s product lines include molecular biology kits, biochemicals and enzymes, MW markers and labware. The company reports that "If your current service provider has turned your project down… our chemists will likely to get the job done for you." Biomatik, founded in 2002, is headquartered in Ontario Canada and is active in the US, UK, Canada and India.

DNA
Definition: Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), consisting of two long polymers made up of nucleotides arranged in a double helix, is the genetic instructions or code used to construct the other components of cells of all known living organisms as well as some viruses.