page_title: Homoplasmy
hierarchical_section_title: Homoplasmy
caption_attribution_description: English: This figure depicts how a mitochondron with a genetic mutation in a heteroplasmic cell (top left), can lead to daughter cells that are homoplasmic for normal mitochonria and mutant mitochondria. This also shows how mitochondrial mutations can get worse over time.
context_page_description: Homoplasmy is a term used in genetics to describe a eukaryotic cell whose copies of mitochondrial DNA are all identical. In normal and healthy tissues, all cells are homoplasmic. Homoplasmic mitochondrial DNA copies may be normal or mutated; however, most mutations are heteroplasmic. It has been discovered, though, that homoplasmic mitochondrial DNA mutations may be found in human tumors.
  The term may also refer to uniformity of plant plastid DNA, whether occurring naturally or otherwise.
context_section_description: Homoplasmy is a term used in genetics to describe a eukaryotic cell whose copies of mitochondrial DNA are all identical. In normal and healthy tissues, all cells are homoplasmic. Homoplasmic mitochondrial DNA copies may be normal or mutated; however, most mutations are heteroplasmic (only occurring in some copies of mitochondrial DNA). It has been discovered, though, that homoplasmic mitochondrial DNA mutations may be found in human tumors.
  The term may also refer to uniformity of plant plastid DNA, whether occurring naturally or otherwise.
caption: The cell in the top left is heteroplasmic as shown by the normal mitochondria in purple and the mitochondria with a mtDNA mutation in red. As this cell divides, the mitochondria replicate and independently assort into the daughter cells. This leads to both positive and negative (cell shown in red) homoplasmy.
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