Not parent, but there's something missing that leads to the organism becoming stable between generations. Do the mitochondria independently reproduce and it just happens that you end up with neither too many nor too few of them, generation to generation?
: Mitochondrial replication is controlled by nuclear genes and is specifically suited to make as many mitochondria as that particular cell needs at the time.
: Each human cell contains approximately 100 mitochondria
: The amount of mitochondria per cell also varies by cell type
: Egg cell: Mature metaphase II egg cells can contain 100,000 mitochondria
(so when it comes to passing down mitochondria to descendants, eukaryotes don't fool around)
