Mary Herbert

Mary Herbert is a leading expert in fertility and reproductive biology at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. Her groundbreaking research has been at the forefront of developing a technique to prevent the transmission of severe genetic diseases from a mother to her child. This innovative method, known as mitochondrial replacement therapy, or sometimes “three-person IVF,” uses a healthy donor egg to replace a mother’s diseased mitochondria. This allows a family with a history of devastating mitochondrial diseases to have a healthy child. Mary’s work has not only advanced science but has also changed public policy. Her research was a key factor in the UK becoming the first country to legally allow this procedure. Since the law changed, her work has led to the birth of the first babies using this technique, a significant breakthrough in medicine. In addition to her work on mitochondrial disease, she also studies the causes of infertility, miscarriage, and birth defects. She is currently the Scientific Director at the Newcastle Fertility Centre.