Bonnicksen, Andrea L. "Transplanting Nuclei between Human Eggs: Implications for Germ-Line Genetics." Politics and the Life Sciences 17, 1 (March, 1998):3-10. [Twelve commentaries and author response, pp. 11-38]
Abstract. A recent theoretical proposal suggests that diseases linked to mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) might be circumvented by transferring the nucleus from the egg of a woman with a mitochondrial disease to a donor egg from which the nucleus has been removed and discarded. Egg cell nuclear transfer would be a straightforward technique for preventing serious diseases. However, its impact on all subsequently dividing cells, including germ cells, would make it an early form of germ-line gene therapy, albeit one that targets mtDNA rather than nuclear DNA. In addition, egg cell nuclear transfer relies on a procedure used in embryo or somatic cell cloning, and it might present a relatively uncontentious setting for the refinement of procedures for cloning. Although it is not clear whether egg cell nuclear transfer is imminent, its proposal creates the opportunity to (1) identify categories of germ-line interventions, (2) explore whether ethical issues vary according to the category of germ-line intervention, and (3) craft more precise policy guidelines in which graduated levels of germ-line interventions are recognized.