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The DNA in the nuclei in cells of Dolly, the cloned sheep, came from the udder cell of an adult sheep. But where did the DNA in her mitochondria come from?
A report by scientists from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York and the Roslin Institute in Scotland reveals that all Dolly's mitochondrial DNA came from the enucleated oocyte with which the udder cell was merged (Nature Genetics 1999;23:90-3).
The discovery has implications for preventing the inheritance of rare but fatal human mitochondrial diseases. Although there are only 37 genes in human...