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To: Captain Rhino
These cells subsequently are implanted in the surrogate mother - who has no genetic connection to the resulting male offspring. Actually, if the donor ova are taken from the woman in whose body the conceptus will gestate, the resulting birth would be related genetically to the Mother, the donor, due to the prescence of mitochondrial DNA, at least! Your mitochondrial DNA comes down through the woman's side of the gene pool.
44 posted on 04/25/2003 1:11:37 PM PDT by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote Life Support for others.)
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To: MHGinTN
I am not a microbiologist, so I could be in error here.

My understanding of the procedure (from reading and watching what are said to be examples of the procedure on television) is that the entire contents of the egg are extracted. This would necessarily include the egg donor's mitochondrial DNA. Since the Ice Man's genetic material is a complete set of genes, it would, of course, contain his mother's mitochondrial DNA. But none of resulting individual's DNA would contain any of the egg donor's/surrogate mother's mitochondrial DNA. Consequently, my claim that the surrogate mother would have no genetic connection to the resulting male offspring.

This is not to say the surrogate mother has no biological connection to the child. After all, it would be her uterus that supported the child to term. As biological studies increasingly reveal, the physical, mental, and emotional health of the mother during pregnancy can have a dramatic impact on fetal development. Unfortunately, if she does everything right, the Ice Man genes would develop unaltered in the best possible prenatal environment. If she abuses drugs, alcohol, is exposed to hazardous chemicals/environments, is abused, in an accident, etc. she will impact the child and perhaps alter his genetic make-up; usually for the worst if past experience is any guide.
47 posted on 04/25/2003 2:37:59 PM PDT by Captain Rhino (If you will just abandon logic, these things will make alot more sense to you!)
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