Fascinating Facts Concerning Human Mitochondrial DNA

Fascinating Facts Concerning Human Mitochondrial DNA

What exactly is mitochondrial DNA? Mitochondria are structures that can be found within cells. These structures convert the energy in food into a form that cells can put to use. Mitochondria have a small amount of their own DNA, though most DNA can be found packaged into chromosomes that are in the nucleus. Mitochondrial DNA spans approximately 16,500 DNA building blocks, and represents a small amount of the total DNA found in cells in humans.

A total of 37 genes can be found in mitochondrial DNA, each of which is essential for normal mitochondrial function. Of these genes, thirteen are responsible for providing instructions for making enzymes that are involved in oxidative phosphorylation, a process which turns oxygen and simple sugars into adenosine troposphere, which is the cell's main energy source. The remaining genes provide instructions for creating transfer RNA and ribosomal RNA, which help assemble protein building blocks into functioning proteins. Each mitochondria is said to contain between 2 and 10 mitochondria copies.

Mitochondrial DNA is unfortunately prone to somatic, or non-inherited, mutations. These mutations can occur in the cells at various points in a person's lifetime and typically are not passed from one generation to the next. Certain forms of cancer, such as breast, colon, stomach, liver, and kidney tumors, have been said to happen as a result of somatic mutations, as have leukemia and lymphoma.

Human mitochondrial DNA can be an essential tool for identifying individuals. This type of DNA is often used by forensic laboratories in order to identify human remains, especially ones that are skeletal remains. Unlike nuclear DNA, however, mitochondrial DNA is not specific to a single individual, but it can be used along with other forms of evidence in order to identify a human.

If it's not specific to an individual, then why is it used for an identifying factor instead of nuclear DNA? Many researchers argue that mitochondrial DNA is better suited than nuclear DNA in older skeletal remains because humans have a greater number of copies of mitochondrial DNA per cell, which increases the chance of obtaining a useful sample. This type of DNA is also useful because it's possible to use it in order to find a match with a living relative, even if there are numerous generations separating the person and the relative. For example, Jesse James's remains where identified using a comparison between mitochondrial DNA extracted from his remains and the mitochondrial DNA obtained from the son of the female-line great granddaughter of his sister. Even though they were separated by several generations, a match could still be obtained thanks to mitochondrial DNA.

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