A world-first IVF trial in the UK has successfully reduced the risk of babies inheriting genetic diseases from their mothers. Eight healthy babies have been born as a result of this new IVF technique. The trial was conducted at the Newcastle Fertility Centre in northeast England, and the results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The technique uses a small amount of healthy mitochondrial DNA from the egg of a donor, alongside the mother’s egg and father’s sperm. As a result, the amount of mutated mitochondrial DNA – which causes disease – was significantly reduced. Despite some controversy, this breakthrough offers hope for women with mutations in their mitochondrial DNA.