EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Mitochondria, and therefore mitochondrial DNA, almost always are inherited entirely from one’s mother. Therefore, like other mitochondrial genetic diseases, MELAS is inherited through the maternal lineage.

Detailed explanation-2: -You inherited your mitochondrial DNA from your mother, who inherited hers from her mother and so forth. Maternal inheritance also gave rise to the idea that there exists a “Mitochondrial Eve, ” a woman from whom all living humans inherited their mitochondrial DNA.

Detailed explanation-3: -Mitochondria as a Maternal Inheritance Unlike nuclear DNA, which is inherited from both parents, mitochondrial DNA is usually inherited only from our mothers. Both egg and sperm cells contain mitochondria with mitochondrial DNA, but after fertilization the mitochondria from the sperm are almost always destroyed.

Detailed explanation-4: -Although most DNA is packaged in chromosomes within the nucleus, mitochondria also have a small amount of their own DNA. This genetic material is known as mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA.

Detailed explanation-5: -Although there has been considerable debate about whether paternal mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) transmission may coexist with maternal transmission of mtDNA, it is generally believed that mitochondria and mtDNA are exclusively maternally inherited in humans.