The Medical Research Council has invested £50 million in a new Centre of Research Excellence focused on mitochondrial genome therapeutics, in a move aimed at improving treatment options for mitochondrial diseases and related conditions.
What the new centre will study
Announced on 5 August 2026, the MRC Centre of Research Excellence in Mitochondrial Genome Therapeutics will bring together experts from multiple disciplines to better understand how mutations in mitochondrial DNA cause disease, and to translate that knowledge into therapies.
Mitochondrial diseases are a group of genetic disorders that affect around one in 5,000 people. The MRC says there is currently no cure, leaving patients and families with significant unmet medical needs.
According to the announcement, mitochondrial DNA mutations are also increasingly linked to neurodegeneration, metabolic disease, cardiovascular failure and age-related deterioration. In affected individuals, mitochondrial dysfunction can contribute to severe disability, progressive decline and premature death.
A UK-led effort with international partners
The centre will be led by the University of Cambridge and will partner with the University of Birmingham, The University of Manchester, Heidelberg University, the University of Queensland and the Imagine Institute in Paris. It will also work with charities including the Lily Foundation and with industry partners worldwide.
Project lead Professor Michal Minczuk said the centre will provide approaches to understanding and treating diseases caused by mutations in the mitochondrial genome, and described the aim as building a long-term UK research platform with the scale, expertise and infrastructure needed to position the country as a global leader in mitochondrial genome therapeutics.
Dr Ceri Williams, Executive Director of Challenge Led Themes at MRC, said the UK has already played a leading role in mitochondrial science through mitochondrial replacement therapy, which prevents the inheritance of mtDNA mutations. She said the new centre builds on that foundation and could help improve prevention, detection and treatment.
Why the funding matters now
The MRC said the centre will use emerging technologies to engineer the mitochondrial genome and create advanced models of pathogenic mtDNA mutations. The council framed the programme as an interdisciplinary effort intended to accelerate progress toward understanding the root causes of disease and developing new therapeutic strategies.
Liz Curtis, chief executive officer and founder of the Lily Foundation, said the initiative has the potential to transform understanding of mitochondrial disease and that embedding patient perspectives from the outset will help ensure families’ priorities shape the research.
The new investment adds fresh momentum to UK research into rare and inherited disease mechanisms at a time when scientists are increasingly looking for ways to move from genetic insight to clinical treatment.
More details are available in the original announcement from UKRI’s Medical Research Council: MRC funds world-class research into fatal genetic diseases.
