Paper: "Biparental Inheritance of Mitochondrial DNA in Humans", by
Shiyu Luo, et al., PNAS, November 26, 2018
Quote:
The energy-producing organelle mitochondrion contains its own compact genome, which is separate from the nuclear genome. In nearly all mammals, this mitochondrial genome is inherited exclusively from the mother, and transmission of paternal mitochondria or mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has not been convincingly demonstrated in humans. In this paper, we have uncovered multiple instances of biparental inheritance of mtDNA spanning three unrelated multiple generation families, a result confirmed by independent sequencing across multiple unrelated laboratories with different methodologies. Surprisingly, this pattern of inheritance appears to be determined in an autosomal dominantlike manner. This paper profoundly alters a widespread belief about mitochondrial inheritance and potentially opens a novel field in mitochondrial medicine.
1 comment :
I read about the study at the PBS website.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/dads-mitochondrial-dna/
Definitely a wowser.
In the sidebar to the article, there was a link to an article titled "Mitochondrial DNA Proves Women were Instrumental Viking Colonizers".
With the paternal DNA finding, can we say, Not so fast, girls?
I doubt it. The linked article is at https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/mitochondrial-proof-viking-women-colonized-new-lands/. I'm guessing it's a reasonable surmise.
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