Mitochondrial disorders passed on by healthy mums

Defects in mitochondrial function can result in severe diseases, commonly characterised by muscle weakness and neurological impairment. Mitochondrial dysfunction can also cause diabetes, deafness and strokes.

“It is known that we inherit our mitochondria from our mother however the way this happens is not straight forward,” says A/Professor Henrik Dahl, group leader of genetic hearing research.

It is possible for unaffected mothers to have babies with metabolic disease, as women with both mutant and normal mitochondrial DNA in their cells will pass on a portion of both to their children.

A/Professor Dahl and group collaborated with researchers in the UK and USA to better understand how mitochondrial mutations are either passed on from mothers to babies or eliminated. The results were published in Nature Genetics.

The study will help researchers to better understand how mitochondrial diseases develop in children and adults and especially how they are transmitted from one generation to the next.

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