Preface

The Human Mitochondrial Genome: From Basic Biology to Disease offers a comprehensive, up-to-date examination of human mitochondrial genomics, connecting basic research to translational medicine across a range of disease types. Here, international experts discuss the essential biology of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), including its maintenance, repair, segregation, and heredity. Furthermore, mtDNA evolution and exploitation, mutations, methods, and models for functional studies of mtDNA are dealt with. Disease discussion is accompanied by approaches for treatment strategies, with disease areas discussed including cancer, neurodegenerative, age-related, mtDNA depletion, deletion, and point mutation diseases. Nucleosides supplementation, mitoTALENs, and mitoZNF nucleases are among the therapeutic approaches examined in-depth. With increasing funding for mtDNA studies, many clinicians and clinician scientists are turning their attention to mtDNA disease association. This book provides the tools and background knowledge required to perform new, impactful research in this exciting space, from distinguishing a haplogroup-defining variant or disease-related mutation to exploring emerging therapeutic pathways