Journal Article Ppublish
PubMed: 40378832 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.03.023
Human mitochondrial DNA in public metagenomes: Opportunity or privacy threat?
Cell 188(10):2561-2566
Authors: Mohamed S Sarhan, Giacomo Antonello, Hansi Weissensteiner, Claudia Mengoni, Deborah Mascalzoni, Levi Waldron, Nicola Segata, Christian Fuchsberger
Affiliations
- Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, 39100 Bolzano, Italy; Department CIBIO, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy.
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
- Department CIBIO, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy.
- Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
- Department CIBIO, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy; City University of New York School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
- Department CIBIO, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy.
- Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
Abstract
Human DNA is unavoidably present in metagenomic analyses of human microbiomes. While current protocols remove human DNA before submission to public repositories, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been overlooked and frequently persists. We discuss the privacy risks and research opportunities associated with mtDNA, urging consideration by the scientific, ethics, and legal communities.
MeSH
Privacy, Cell Biology, Dna, Mitochondrial, Metagenome, Dna