Przegląd Antropologiczny – Anthropological Review • Vol. 67, 97-110 (2004) Mitochondrial DNA and human evolution: A review

ABSTRACT It was not until a few decades ago that research into evolution and anthropology could be broadened by molecular biology techniques, espe-cially those, making use of the most detailed record of the life’s evolution – genetic material. A small fraction of a cell’s DNA is present in mitochondria, organelle involved in energy production. Higher mutation rate, different mode of inheritance, and the large number of copies per cell are the main features of mtDNA. They allow us to study certain aspects of human evolution, namely: the origin of our species, kinship, possible interbreeding with other hominids, migrations and colonization of new regions of the world, from the maternal perspective. KEY WORDS mtDNA, aDNA, anatomically modern humans, Neandertals