How incurable mitochondrial diseases strike previously unaffected families

(Medical Research Council) Researchers have shown for the first time how children can inherit a severe -- potentially fatal -- mitochondrial disease from a healthy mother. The study, led by researchers from the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit at the University of Cambridge, reveals that healthy people harbor mutations in their mitochondrial DNA and explains how cases of severe mitochondrial disease can appear unexpectedly in previously unaffected families.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news