The Power of Mitochondrial DNA Heteroplasmy - Adventures in Genomics

In forensics, sometimes samples are so degraded that traditional DNA extractions and methods may not work. Jacques and Irene with Mitch Holland explain how high-throughput sequencing is helping us realize the power of mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy - ultimately leading to the solving of more crimes. Used to identify the remains of Tsar Nicholas Romanov II, you’ll see how MtDNA heteroplasmy can now be used to routinely, detect, resolve and report using NGS technology, benefitting the forensics community for years to come.
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Links:
Mitch Holland at Penn State, Eberly College of Science, Forensic Science -
forensics.psu.edu/research/dr....
Penn State University
www.psu.edu
For more info on applications in forensics -
www.illumina.com/areas-of-inte...
For more info on applications in other areas
www.illumina.com/science/publi...
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[@serenepachniuk6335]

For those looking for the definition of heteroplasmy or a better understanding of it, skip to 2:14 🤝🏻

[@sverkerd.a.4978]

I find the reasoning at 4:30 - 5:10 problematic. The number of mitochondria in an egg cell is very large (and maybe hard to tell because mitochondria are dynamic). Let us say there are 1000 mitochondria and the proportions of the two gene variants are 100/900 (which is close to the drawing). In mitosis each mitochondrion divides, so we have 200/1800, and then the cell divides. If the process is random each daughter cell will have very close to 100/900. That it would be almost reversed proportions, as in the drawing for child 1, is extremely improbable, almost impossible. What is happening?

[@higherresolution4490]

Here's something to consider. The mitochondrion is a former endosymbiont-a blue-green respiring spirochete. As such, despite being a cellular organelle 1.5 billion years later, it still undergoes binary fission for multiplication, not mitosis. You're sure right about vast number of mitochondria in a human egg. Estimates range between 250,000 and 1,000,000.

[@borishbio]

Mitochondria undergo cycles of fusion (joining 2 mitochondria to form a single mitochondrion) and division (aka fission; a single mitochondrion divides into two). This balance between fusion and fission is what controls mitochondrial structure. So, depending on the cell type, numerous separate mitochondria in a cell can shift to form a single, interconnected membranous structure.

[@user-zj3zk5it7i]

I know this is old. But I happen to have double heteroplasmy gene mutations snd I match the romonovs and prince Phillip. Why would I have a triplasmy heteroplasmy

[@dinowilfreddegracia9238]

What are they figuring out here?

[@Buffalolil]

Ha ha. I just a show on the Romanovs. That's why I'm here.

[@veronicalogotheti5416]

And we believed it

[@veronicalogotheti5416]

They must cut the san pedro

[@veronicalogotheti5416]

The russians after 80 years found the skeletons burnt from the czar