I know I have half of my actual DNA from each of my parents but I got 100% of my mitochondrial DNA from my mother. Does this mean I’m more genetically similar to my mother?
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Technically, yes. So, while you have half of your nuclear DNA from each parent, you have 100% of your mtDNA from your mother. This means that you are more genetically similar to your mother in terms of your mtDNA.
Nuclear DNA is more important than mtDNA for determining overall genetic similarity. This is because nuclear DNA contains the instructions for building and maintaining all of the different types of cells in the body, while mtDNA is only involved in energy production.
In addition to the mitochondrial DNA, if you are a male, you have an X chromosome from your mom and a Y from your dad.
The X chromosome is 3 times longer and has 9 times as many protein coding genes as the Y.
So you also have more nuclear DNA from your mom too.
Technically yes but in terms of your phenotype, that mostly comes from your nuclear DNA so you’re not going to resemble your mom more than your dad because of this.
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