system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Since our mitochondrial DNA is separate/different from the DNA in the nuclei of our cells, how are cells able to produce more mitochondria with the different DNA when they divide during mitosis?
gpt
Mitochondria divide on their own. In single-celled eukaryotes such as protists, the mitochondrial division is synced with the cell division so that the two new cells both have mitochondria. In multicellular organisms such as humans, mitochondria are completely independent and divide when the cell needs more energy. Thus, for multicellular organisms the new cells just get whatever mitochondria happen to be present at the time they're split.