I explore the challenges that mitochondrial DNA presents to kinship. I suggest that discussions of mitochondrial replacement reveal a continuing suspicion around the participation of third parties in reproduction because of the disruption to the model of the nuclear family that they may provoke.
Long abstract:
Mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRT) have generated debate about the constitution of genetic relatedness, and whether mitochondrial replacement leads to children with 3 (genetic) parents. This technology allows for the transfer of nuclear DNA from the egg of one woman, to the enucleated egg of another woman, in order to increase the chances of the resultant child being born with non-mutated mitochondrial DNA. Consequently, the resulting child contains genetic material of 3 people. What is difficult with mitochondrial DNA, though, is that, because it is non-combining, it is also shared by a multitude of *other* people.
In this paper, I explore the challenges that mitochondrial DNA presents to kinship models based on shared genetic information. I suggest that this technology, and the ways it has been regulated to date, reveals a continuing suspicion around the participation of third parties in reproduction because of the disruption to the model of the nuclear family that they may provoke.