title: Mitochondrial DNA variation in human radiation and disease.
abstract: Environmental adaptation, predisposition to common diseases, and, potentially, speciation may all be linked through the adaptive potential of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) alterations of bioenergetics. This Perspective synthesizes evidence that human mtDNA variants may be adaptive or deleterious depending on environmental context and proposes that the accrual of mtDNA variation could contribute to animal speciation via adaptation to marginal environments.
authors.affiliation: Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Electronic address: wallaced1@email.chop.edu.
authors.forename: Douglas C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Wallace
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D004194:Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005826:Genetics, Medical; D063426:Human Migration; D006801:Humans; D010085:Oxidative Phosphorylation
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial