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Mitochondria contain their own DNA because they are thought to have evolved from free-living bacteria that were engulfed by ancestral eukaryotic cells through a process called endosymbiosis. Over time, these bacteria formed a symbiotic relationship with the host cell and eventually evolved into mitochondria.
During this evolutionary process, many of the bacterial genes were transferred to the host cell nucleus, but some genes remained in the mitochondria. This is why mitochondria still contain their own DNA.
The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) encodes several genes that are essential for the function of the mitochondria, including those involved in oxidative phosphorylation, which is the process by which mitochondria generate ATP, the energy currency of the cell. Mutations in mtDNA can lead to mitochondrial dysfunction and a variety of human diseases.
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