Despite this relatively low frequency, the Wellcome Trust (an organization dedicated to improving human and animal health) recently donated £4 million ($6.5 million) to scientists at the University of Newcastle to establish a center for mitochondrial research. In a 2010 paper, the scientists reported some early success with a technique involving the use of human zygotes (single-cell embryos) that had been engineered to contain only healthy mitochondria.
尽管罹患此类疾病的概率较低，但威康信托基金（一家致力于改善人类和动物健康的机构）最近向纽卡斯尔大学科学家捐款400万英镑（合650万美元）用于线粒体研究中心的建设。在2010年论文中，科学家们报告在采用人类受精卵（单细胞胚胎）的一项技术（该技术经过改良仅包含健康线粒体）中取得了初步的成功。但受精卵成功进入下一阶段的比例仅有8%。