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What causes mitochondrial diseases?

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What causes mitochondrial diseases?

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First, mitochondrial diseases aren’t contagious, and they aren’t caused by anything a person does. They’re caused by mutations, or changes, in genes — the cells’ blueprints for making proteins. Genes are responsible for building our bodies, and are passed from parents to children, along with any mutations or defects they have. That means that mitochondrial diseases are inheritable, although they often affect members of the same family in different ways. (For more information about genetic mutations and mitochondrial disease, see “Does it Run in the Family?”.) The genes involved in mitochondrial disease normally make proteins that work inside the mitochondria. Within each mitochondrion (singular of mitochondria), these proteins make up part of an assembly line that uses fuel molecules derived from food to manufacture the energy molecule ATP. This highly efficient manufacturing process requires oxygen; outside the mitochondrion, there are less efficient ways of producing ATP without oxyg

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