According to Joanna Poulton, an expert in mitochondrial research at Oxford University, it is not yet appropriate to offer treatment with so little knowledge of the potential consequences when reasonable alternatives – such as egg donation from a woman unaffected by mitochondrial disease or pre-implantation genetic diagnosis – are available. She says, “There are very few families who don’t want to use donated oocytes (eggs), where PGD would not work, and where the risk of having severely affected babies is so high that it might be worth trying the new techniques.”
按照牛津大学线粒体研究专家乔安娜·波尔顿的说法，在对可能产生的后果知之甚少且存在合理替代方法（比方说由未受线粒体疾病影响的女性捐卵或在胚胎植入前开展基因诊断）的情况下进行相关治疗并不妥当。她说“在胚胎植入前诊断不起作用且严重影响婴儿的风险高到或许值得尝试新技术的情况下，不愿使用捐献卵母细胞（卵子）的家庭少之又少。”