Your Mitochondria Came From Your Mother

Sperm carry a few mitochondria into the egg, but they are usually destroyed soon after, so your mitochondrial DNA comes from your mother. 👩

That small ring of 16,569 letters runs back through her mother, and her mother's mother, generation after generation.

3D models are simplified illustrations and may not be exact. DNA ring and drawings: our own builds. Sources: Rojansky, Cha & Chan 2016, eLife; Anderson et al. 1981, Nature.