Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about mitochondrial inheritance.

And if you want to follow along with written notes on this topic,

you can follow along at zerodefinals.com slash mitochondrial inheritance

or in the genetic section of the Zero-definals pediatrics book.

So let's jump straight in.

Mitochondrial diseases are rare and you're unlikely to come across them.

You may see a few cases across your whole career unless you specialize in rare or genetic conditions.

There are a number of mitochondrial myopathies

where abnormal mitochondria lead to poor production of ATP,

which is the molecule that provides energy in the body.

Poor production of ATP leads to myopathy,

which is abnormal muscle function.

They're also responsible for rare forms of

deafness, blindness, diabetes malitus, and epilepsy. It's worth knowing about mitochondrial

inheritance for exam and academic purposes. First, let's talk a bit about mitochondria.

Mitochondria are organelles that live inside the cell cytoplasm. The number of mitochondria in a cell varies depending on the function of that

cell. Myocytes, or muscle cells, have thousands of mitochondria, whereas adipocytes, which are fat cells, have very few.

Mitochondria are responsible for producing ATP for the cell.

Mitochondria contain their own DNA separate from the DNA of the cell nucleus.

This DNA is arranged in a large circle, unlike the chromosomes that are found inside the cell nucleus. This DNA is arranged in a large circle, unlike the chromosomes that are

found inside the cell nucleus. Let's talk finally about mitochondrial inheritance. At the time of

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