In addition, I am involved in several projects in feline genetics.
Mitochondria are small organelles that function as the biological powerhouses of the cell.
Little is currently known about the relative transmission of normal and mutant mtDNAs, or about the control of mtDNA replication in general. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae presents a system where competitive transmission of wild-type and mutant mtDNAs is quite accessible to analysis. Some mutant yeast mtDNAs are preferentially inherited. There are human diseases caused by mtDNA mutations. Some of these mtDNAs also appear to have a replication advantage that contributes to disease processes.