Human Mitochondrial Genetics - Quantity

Quantity

In humans, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) forms closed circular molecules that contain 16,569 DNA base pairs, with each such molecule normally containing a full set of the mitochondrial genes. Each human mitochondrion contains, on average, approximately 5 such mtDNA molecules, with the quantity ranging between 1 and 15. Each human cell contains approximately 100 mitochondria, giving a total number of mtDNA molecules per human cell of approximately 500.

Still, this quantity is small compared to nuclear DNA.

Read more about this topic:  Human Mitochondrial Genetics

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