Library · Genetics
Mitochondrial inheritance
Make it clearer
Mitochondrial inheritance, also called maternal inheritance, is the way genes that live inside mitochondria are inherited. Mitochondria are structures found in every cell that convert molecules into energy, and each one holds a small amount of DNA: mitochondrial DNA.
The key is who contributes the mitochondria to the embryo. Only the egg, the cell that comes from the mother, contributes them. That is why only women can pass a change in that DNA, called a mitochondrial variant, to their children. It is like a family recipe that is handed down only through the mother's line: both daughters and sons receive it, but only daughters can pass it on to the next generation.
If you draw the family tree of people with a mitochondrial disease, there can be affected people in every generation, including both men and women. What you will not find in that tree is a father passing it on to his children. Leber hereditary optic neuropathy, an inherited form of vision loss, is an example of a disease passed down this way.
In brief
Mitochondrial inheritance, or maternal inheritance, is the inheritance of genes in mitochondrial DNA; each mitochondrion, a cell structure that converts molecules into energy, contains a small amount of DNA.
Because only the egg contributes mitochondria to the embryo, only women can pass mitochondrial variants to their children.
It is a recipe handed down only through the mother's line.
Mitochondrial diseases can appear in every generation and affect both sexes, but fathers do not pass them to daughters or sons; one example is Leber hereditary optic neuropathy.
Sources (2)
- MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of MedicineWhat are the different ways a genetic condition can be inherited?, MedlinePlus GeneticsPublished
- MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of MedicineLeber hereditary optic neuropathy, MedlinePlus GeneticsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated