A team of researchers with members from Taiwan, the U.S., China and Japan has found that mitochondrial DNA from sperm that makes its way into an embryo begins to self-destruct before autophagosomes in the cytoplasm can reach it. In their paper published in the journal Science, the researchers describe their study involving the close monitoring of male mitochondrial DNA activity immediately after an embryo has been fertilized and as it is subsequently destroyed—they also offer some theories regarding why this occurs.
Male Mitochondrial DNA Found to Self-Destruct After Arrival in Embryo
