Why is mitochondrial dna inherited from the mother

But not all men with mixtures retained this ability, leading to occasional dead-ends. Instead, whatever allows dads to deposit their mitochondrial DNA in their offspring is likely a mutation encoded in the nucleus—where things are supposed to come from both mom and dad.

Florence Marlow , a developmental biologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai who was not involved in the research, theorizes that the anomaly could be at the step where the mitochondria of sperm are normally tagged for destruction. Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens.

Since putting together their initial findings, Huang and his team have already identified several more candidate families with mixed mitochondrial DNA. According to his preliminary estimates, this phenomenon may be present in as many as 1 in every 5, people. So how has this been overlooked for so long? Cells taken from the connective tissue of a mouse. The nuclei of the cell are stained in blue and the mitochondria are stained in green.

Photo Credit: D. Burnette, J. The possibility of paternal inheritance could also expand our options for assisted reproductive technology in the distant future.

In theory, Breton says, if paternal mitochondria are viable, they could be added to—or perhaps even replace—defective maternal mitochondria, obviating the need for a third parent.

For now, maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA is still the norm. But simply expanding our view of genetic inheritance opens up countless doors. Support Provided By Learn More. That's different in a way from the DNA that's in the nucleus. This DNA is small and circular.

It has only 16, or so base pairs in it. And it encodes different proteins that are specific for the mitochondrial. Now, remember those pathways that are within the mitochondrion for producing energy. Some of the enzymes in those pathways, and some of the proteins that are needed to function in those pathways, are produced by the mitochondrial DNA. Apart from writing, she has been involved in patient-oriented translational and clinical research.

Fact Checked By:. Margarida Azevedo, MSc. She worked as a molecular biologist research associate at a Cambridge UK-based biotech company that discovers and develops therapeutic, fully human monoclonal antibodies. Print This Page. How useful was this post? Click on a star to rate it! As you found this post useful Follow us on social media!