Scientists at the University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University of London have discovered that mitochondrial DNA can make its way into nuclear DNA. The study is published in Nature.
The batteries of a cell
Mitochondria are often referred to as the “powerhouses” or “batteries” of a cell, due to their role in energy conversion, among other critical molecular processes. They possess their own circular DNA called mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is particularly interesting to scientists due to its distinct properties, such as a high rate of polymorphisms and mutations.
Another unique feature of mtDNA is that it is inherited by offspring via the maternal line – i.e., the DNA is passed down from our mother, not our father. This characteristic of mitochondria was widely accepted until a 2018 paper from researchers at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center proposed it had found evidence of paternal transmission.