mtDNA Test. Mitochondrial DNA test is a test to see whether there is a biological relationship from mother side. It is preferred to understand if siblings have same biological mother or individuals are relatives of each other from mother side biologically.

Small portion of DNA which is mostly found in cell nucleus is found in energy producing organelle, mitochondria. DNA found in mitochondria organelle is called mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Although DNA found in nucleus is inherited from both mother and father, mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from mother. mtDNA located in mitochondria of father is not inherited to child. This is the reason why mtDNA test can be used to get information about mother lineage.

Why mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from mother can be explained with the fact that the amount of mitochondria found in egg coming from mother is approximately 1000 times of the amount of mitochondria found in sperm coming from father. The other reason is related with the structure of sperm. Sperm has a tailed structure and reaching eggs by swimming is the task of it. Energy producer mitochondria organelle is found in tail that spends so much energy during swimming. In other words, mitochondrial DNA is found in tail part of sperm. Fertilization of egg is performed by head part of sperm and the tail is lost during fertilization. In short, mtDNA of child is inherited from mother. It is detected whether test participants are biologically relatives from mother side by comparing mtDNAs obtained from mouth swab sampled of test participants.

The other usage area of mtDNA test is detection of origin. In addition to individuals who wonder if there is a biological relationship from mother side and siblings who try to detect if they have same biological mother, mtDNA test is also preferred by individuals who wonder where their mother lineage came from and which migratory routes they followed.

DNA Hospital that has a great variety of DNA tests is always with you together with its reliability, privacy and speediness principles so you do not have questions on your minds! 14 workdays after taking permissions of test participants and official parents of under 18 years-old children and receiving mouth swab samples, results are submitted to participants. It is obligated to use a reference number consisting of numbers and letters given to test participants in order to order to provide submitting results only to participants, not anyone else