Name: Brooke
Status: Other
Grade: Other
Location: OR
Country: United States
Date: May 2006
Question:
I was reading about mitochondrial DNA, and thinking
of something a doctor said, which is that surrogate mothers could
probably donate an organ to the baby they carried (who did not come
from their own egg), and the baby would not reject the organ. Is
this true? If so, is it because of mitochondrial DNA or something else?
Replies:
I don't believe it is true. Also, the compatibility of tissues is not to my
knowledge carried on the mitochondrial chromosome. A human chromosome in
containing the "major histocompatibility complex" is chromosome #6 as I
recall. Why this would not come into play in a surrogate situation is beyond
me...but many times I have been surprised by human genetics.
pf
It is not true that a surrogate mother would be able to donate an organ to
the child she carried. Remember that the child's mitochondrial DNA is
inherited from the biological mother's ovum.
Ron Baker, Ph.D.
My inclination is that no, the surrogate mother is just an "incubator" and
doesn't contribute any DNA to the baby.
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