Posted on 08/24/2002 7:22:09 AM PDT by blam
Mitochondria can be inherited from both parents
17:01 23 August 02
NewScientist.com news service
Mitochondria may not be inherited solely through the maternal line, according to new research that promises to overturn accepted biological wisdom.
If confirmed by other researchers, the findings could have huge implications for evolutionary biology and biochemistry.
Robert Sanders Williams, from Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, says the findings are "remarkable and unanticipated. This is more than a mere curiosity. It asserts the principle that it can occur in humans. It could have significant implications for the study of human evolution and the migrations of populations," he says.
For decades biologists have assumed that mitochondria - the cells' power stations - are inherited solely through the maternal line.
Mitochondria in the sperm from the father were presumed to be destroyed immediately after conception, leaving behind only those from the mother. But Marianne Schwartz and John Vissing from the University Hospital Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, have discovered that one of their patients inherited the majority of his mitochondria from his father.
"Even with very sensitive methods, paternal mitochondrial DNA has never been detected in man before," Schwartz told Reuters. "There are many examples of family pedigrees that follow mitochondrial diseases through the maternal line."
Little oxygen
The pair made the discovery while trying to discover why one of their patients suffered extreme fatigue during exercise. The 28-year-old man had an entirely normal heart and lungs and his muscles appeared healthy. But on closer inspection, Schwartz and Vissing discovered that his muscles absorbed very little oxygen.
This led them to examine the genetic sequence of his mitochondria. They discovered two mutations in his mitochondrial DNA - one of which was responsible for his extreme fatigue.
To try and investigate the mutations further, they also sequenced the DNA of his mother, father and uncle. To their surprise, the sequence matched those of his father and uncle.
Spontaneous mutation
Muscle biopsies showed that about 90 per cent of his mitochondria came from his father. However, the mitochondria in his blood, hair roots and fibroblasts came entirely from his mother.
The two mutations appear to have arisen spontaneously during, or shortly after, conception.
The researchers think inheritance of paternal mitochondrial DNA is probably very rare. But the findings will have implications for a number of branches of biology. Evolutionary biologists often date the divergence of species by the differences in genetic sequences in mitochondrial DNA. Even if paternal DNA is inherited very rarely, it could invalidate many of their findings. It will also have implications for scientists investigating inherited metabolic diseases.
Journal reference: New England Journal of Medicine (vol 347, p576)
If this weathers scientific scrutiny, things will get complicated for a lot of lefties. (I've questioned the conclusions from DNA results all along. This may be 'the straw.' Albeit, I've pointed them out when they support my conclusions though, lol.)
No. It's based on the Y-chromosomes come from males theory.
And the Discovery Channel just ran a two hour special on "The Real Eve," the woman from 150,000 B.C. who supposedly sired all living people."The Real Eve" is painfully politically correct (American Indians didn't slaughter most large herbivores to extinction -- they 'changed the environment through interaction' (LOL! Only evil white men can actually harm the environment).
This new info, if corroborated, tosses-out all the human evolutionary studies based upon DNA of the past 20 years. Personally, I believe most of my family are direct descendants of Australeopithecus...
That claim relied on the DNA haplotype (set of specific variants on the Y chromosome) which could have belonged to any male ancestor in Thomas Jefferson's line. In other words, not only could Jefferson's brother Randolph have impregnated Hemings, but Jeferson's grandfather could have impregnated Hemings' grandmother and the haplotype would have survived down to the present time.
It's been pretty clearly established that there is no "proof" that Hemings bore Jefferson's child. Just a few months ago the Jefferson family association expressed their lack of confidence in the claim when they declined to include Hemings' descendents in the association.
I'm doing the same with Scientific American, they've fallen over the edge too.
Originally the word liberal meant social conservatives(no govt religion--none) who advocated growth and progress---mostly technological(knowledge being absolute/unchanging)based on law--reality... UNDER GOD---the nature of GOD/man/govt. does not change. These were the Classical liberals...founding fathers-PRINCIPLES---stable/SANE scientific reality/society---industrial progress...moral/social character-values(private/personal) GROWTH(limited NON-intrusive PC Govt/religion---schools)!
Evolution...Atheism-dehumanism---TYRANNY...
Then came the SPLIT SCHIZOPHRENIA/ZOMBIE/BRAVE-NWO 1984 America---
Evolutionists is the weed(maggot-flies)---rotten infested fruit from the rejecters/parasites/blood-life suckers of Truth/civilization!
Pretty simple...Tree of Life/Truth vs death/lies!
Is this as rare as the male and female identical twins?
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