The main focus is to investigate how human brain mitochondria are involved in the development of Huntington’s disease. The mitochondria are tiny structures involved in energy, cell death and survival. They are thought to be involved in the disease process leading to the loss of brain cells and eventually to death. The emphasis of this paper is on the scientific methods that we use and the processes we have put in place for developing culturally appropriate methods.

In our laboratory we use several methods that are considered to be “cutting edge”, including growing cells from post-mortem and post-operative brain tissue, and the use of post-mortem brain tissue for molecular techniques. In short we work with human tissue. As a consequence, we feel it is important to examine the cultural, ethical and spiritual implications of working with human tissue. Part of Melanie’s PhD journey has been about exploring the concept and use of tikanga in the modern world, talking to her iwi about this research, and consulting with Māori to develop appropriate tikanga for use in the laboratory.