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Mitochondrial Dna Research Paper

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Certain mitochondrial DNA mutations have been found to result in mitochondrial dysfunction and have been found to be heavily implicated in the aging process as well as various age-related disorders and diseases. The mutations in the mitochondria can occur in the mother and then be given to the offspring. To conduct the study, the authors used mice to test their theories. The scientists conducting the story wanted to find out just how much the mitochondrial mutations in the DNA could contribute to the rate of aging. They also found something that they didn’t expect, a certain combination of inherited mutations in the mitochondrial DNA can cause stochastic brain malformations. The results that they got from conducting the study indicated that healthy mitochondria may be needed to maintain a certain level of health during …show more content…

Through the study they found that the rate of aging may be set very early in life before reproduction ends. They found that by finding that genetic mutations and environmental factors early in life affected the day-3 mitoflash frequency, which they found to predict lifespan. The mutations from the mother in the mitochondrial DNA were also found to have a correlation with litter sizes, and a decrease in total number of liters. The authors also found that a relatively low amount of maternally transmitted mitochondrial DNA mutations can induce the premature aging phenotypes. The mutations in the mitochondrial DNA resulted in many things such as, alopecia, kyphosis, reduced body size, lower body weight, and decreased spontaneous rearing. To try and help prove their work the authors talked about the literature that was already on the topic of DNA damage in time exceeds what the body can repair, leading to manifestations of aging in many

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