This research paper, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, challenges the common belief that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is inherited exclusively from the mother. The authors identified three unrelated families with unusually high levels of mtDNA heteroplasmy, suggesting transmission of mtDNA from both the father and mother. This finding has significant implications for our understanding of mitochondrial inheritance and opens up new avenues for the treatment of mitochondrial diseases.

Luo, S., Valencia, C. A., Zhang, J., Lee, N.-C., Slone, J., Gui, B., Wang, X., Li, Z., Della, S., Brown, J., Chen, S. M., Chien, Y.-H., Hwu, W.-L., Fan, P.-C., Wong, L.-J., Atwal, P. S., & Huang, T. (2018). Biparental inheritance of mitochondrial DNA in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
115(46), 11684–11689. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1810946115