The ISSCR Comments on the Australian Mitochondrial Donation Bill

The ISSCR provided formal support of the Mitochondrial Donation Law Reform (Maeve's Law) Bill 2021 in a letter to Chair Wendy Askew and Deputy Chair Rachel Siewert of the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee in Australia.

Maeve’s Law would enable clinical investigation of mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRT) to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial diseases in Australia. Mitochondrial diseases can be devastating for heart, brain, and muscle function. Among other key points, the letter states:

"The ISSCR supports the Mitochondrial Donation Law Reform (Maeve's Law) Bill 2021 because it would establish a rigorous, incremental approach to enable MRT to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial diseases that is consistent with the process described in the ISSCR Guidelines. Importantly, the bill provides a process for evaluating the safety and efficacy of MRT before making it available more broadly in clinical practice. In particular, the ISSCR appreciates that the bill ensures MRT will be subject to a well-regulated oversight process that limits the use of MRT to the prevention of mitochondrial diseases. This bill would align Australia’s oversight of MRT with the United Kingdom, which was the first country to enable MRT to prevent the transmission of serious and devastating mitochondrial diseases."

Read the letter.