A mitochondrial DNA test or mtDNA test uses the DNA in a person’s mitochondria to trace his or her matrilineal ancestry. This is possible because the mothers pass their almost identical mtDNA to all their offspring, both male and female. As a result, both men and women can take a mitochondrial DNA test to determine their mother’s line of ancestry.
mtDNA testing extends beyond the 4th or 5th generation of your family tree. But, unlike YDNA tests, it doesn’t reveal how similar you are to your mtDNA matches. That’s why you need to use this test wisely.
We can track down the mtDNA back to a woman who lived around 150,000 or 200,000 years ago and to someone who is genetically similar to everybody on the planet.
Human fingerprints frequently contain DNA. But, since there is very little of it, scientists frequently turn to a specific type of genetic material called DNA (mtDNA). While one cannot use mtDNA to identify a person uniquely, it can be useful. Police, for example, use this DNA to filter the list of suspects.
Mitochondrial DNA carries maternal character traits in both male and female children. As a result, brother and sister from the same mother share mitochondrial DNA. If two people have an unbroken maternal lineage, they will have the same mitochondrial DNA sequence.
This mitochondrial genome comes only from the mother in almost all mammals, and transmission of the father’s mitochondria in humans has still not been convincingly demonstrated.