4 ms·

I'm not sure how much of a "plot twist" this is - when I took my biology course decades ago, it was explained to me that both maternal and paternal mitochondria

I'm not sure how much of a "plot twist" this is - when I took my biology course decades ago, it was explained to me that both maternal and paternal mitochondria were passed on, but the Egg is so much larger than the sperm, that the impact of of paternal mitochondria, and amount passed on, was relatively minor. I guess the interesting detail here is that the amount present raises to the level of catching a DNA scan.

eridan2 8y ago
it is not about the size; paternal mtdna dies after fertilization: https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/paternal-mitochondria-selfdestruct-after-fertilization/ https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/paternal-mito...
- mbreese 8y ago
  That study was in C. elegans. Has anything similar been done in mammals?
josephpmay 8y ago
Interesing. That’s not what I was taught in biology class in the 2010’s.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
ArchTypical 8y ago
> I'm not sure how much of a "plot twist" this is I was taught differently in 1998. There was the press coverage of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_(Australopithecus) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_(Australopithecus) which was referenced in a scene of https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872732/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872732/ It can be said that it's a plot twist that was stoked for decades.
- mbreese 8y ago
  I remember being taught that there was a paternal component of mtDNA, but that the contribution was really small (<10%, maybe <1%). However, I don't remember if this was undergrad (~ 1998) or grad (~2000)... probably grad school.
  - ArchTypical 8y ago
    > probably grad school. I was an undergrad, which still puts us both above the vast majority in education.
    - qaminsod 8y ago
      Get a room nerds.
eggie 8y ago
I agree. However, it can be hard to observe, even in the large, public sequencing data that is currently available. There is a large amount of mtDNA inserted into the nuclear genome, and this can make it appear that there is rampant heteroplasmy until you control for it. The actual contribution is extremely hard to observe.

eridan2 8y ago

it is not about the size; paternal mtdna dies after fertilization: https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/paternal-mitochondria-selfdestruct-after-fertilization/ https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/paternal-mito...

mbreese 8y ago
That study was in C. elegans. Has anything similar been done in mammals?

josephpmay 8y ago

Interesing. That’s not what I was taught in biology class in the 2010’s.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

ArchTypical 8y ago

> I'm not sure how much of a "plot twist" this is I was taught differently in 1998. There was the press coverage of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_(Australopithecus) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_(Australopithecus) which was referenced in a scene of https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872732/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872732/ It can be said that it's a plot twist that was stoked for decades.

mbreese 8y ago
I remember being taught that there was a paternal component of mtDNA, but that the contribution was really small (<10%, maybe <1%). However, I don't remember if this was undergrad (~ 1998) or grad (~2000)... probably grad school.
- ArchTypical 8y ago
  > probably grad school. I was an undergrad, which still puts us both above the vast majority in education.
  - qaminsod 8y ago
    Get a room nerds.

eggie 8y ago

I agree. However, it can be hard to observe, even in the large, public sequencing data that is currently available. There is a large amount of mtDNA inserted into the nuclear genome, and this can make it appear that there is rampant heteroplasmy until you control for it. The actual contribution is extremely hard to observe.