mitochondrial DNA

British

noun

mtDNA. DNA found in mitochondria, which contains some structural genes and is generally inherited only through the female line

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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mitochondrial DNA

Yet mitochondrial DNA is transmitted only through mothers.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026

"You know, I can sample for a mite count, but I can't sample for mitochondrial DNA," Funkhouser said.

From Barron's ● May 19, 2026

By tracing mitochondrial DNA, which is only passed on by women, Dr Cassidy found that most women in the community were related by blood dating back generations.

From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2025

The mitochondrial DNA from the victim was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2024

Given the inheritance rules for mitochondrial DNA, the conclusion that Indians and Siberians share common ancestry seems, to geneticists, inescapable.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023