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Scientists have recreated heteroplasmy by producing embryos with both maternal and paternal mitochondrial DNA:
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) from the University of Missouri has succeeded in creating embryos with "heteroplasmy," or the presence of both maternal and paternal mitochondrial DNA. This new innovation will allow scientists to study treatments for mitochondrial diseases in humans as well as the significance of mitochondrial inheritance for livestock.
When parents pass along their genes to their children, most of the DNA from the mother and father is evenly divided. However, children only receive one type of [mitochondrial DNA] from their mothers, while the fathers' mitochondrial DNA is naturally removed from the embryos. Peter Sutovsky, a professor of reproductive physiology at Mizzou and lead author Won-Hee Song, a doctoral candidate in the Mizzou College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, have found a way to prevent this paternal mitochondrial DNA removal process in pig embryos, thus creating embryos with "heteroplasmy."
"As many as 4,000 children are born in the U.S. every year with some form of mitochondrial disease, which can include poor growth, loss of muscle coordination, learning disabilities and heart disease," Sutovsky said. "Some scientists believe some of these diseases may be caused by heteroplasmy, or cells possessing both maternal and paternal mitochondrial DNA. We have succeeded in creating this condition of heteroplasmy within pig embryos, which will allow scientists to further study whether paternal heteroplasmy could cause mitochondrial diseases in humans."
Autophagy and ubiquitin–proteasome system contribute to sperm mitophagy after mammalian fertilization (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1605844113) (DX)
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(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday August 26 2016, @07:37AM
"Some scientists believe some of these diseases may be caused by heteroplasmy, or cells possessing both maternal and paternal mitochondrial DNA.
Apparently they can test for paternal mitochondrial DNA, and apparently they must have found it in a significant number of cases. Otherwise there would be no basis for the belief.
So if it occurs naturally, why is this such a big deal? Testing enough pigs would have found some naturally occurring specimens, No?
What happens if ALL the maternal mitochondria are swapped out for paternal mitochondria mitochondria?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by takyon on Friday August 26 2016, @08:29AM
Umm, err... they become MRAs!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_DNA#Male_inheritance [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternal_mtDNA_transmission [wikipedia.org]
It seems like the debate is more about the extent to which it occurs than the possible effects, although there is some mention of male-inherited mitochondria being rejected in the first link.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday August 27 2016, @01:35AM
For starters , a "significant number" can still be a quite tiny percentage of a large population. Detecting it in disease patients also tells you next to nothing about its prevalence in the larger population.
Assuming that there is correlation between heteroplasmy and some of these diseases, being able to artificially induce it also gives you another important advantage: the ability to see if it's actually the cause, or simply another effect of some other root cause.