Human mitochondrial DNA in public metagenomes: Opportunity or privacy threat?

Mohamed S Sarhan; Giacomo Antonello; Hansi Weissensteiner; Claudia Mengoni; Deborah Mascalzoni; Levi Waldron; Nicola Segata; Christian Fuchsberger

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2025.03.023

Human mitochondrial DNA in public metagenomes: Opportunity or privacy threat?

Cell. 2025 May 15;188(10):2561-2566. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.03.023.

Authors

Mohamed S Sarhan¹, Giacomo Antonello¹, Hansi Weissensteiner², Claudia Mengoni³, Deborah Mascalzoni⁴, Levi Waldron⁵, Nicola Segata⁶, Christian Fuchsberger⁷

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, 39100 Bolzano, Italy; Department CIBIO, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy.
² Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
³ Department CIBIO, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy.
⁴ Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
⁵ Department CIBIO, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy; City University of New York School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
⁶ Department CIBIO, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy. Electronic address: nicola.segata@unitn.it.
⁷ Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, 39100 Bolzano, Italy. Electronic address: christian.fuchsberger@eurac.edu.

PMID: 40378832
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.03.023

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 terms

DNA, Mitochondrial* / genetics
Genetic Privacy* / ethics
Humans
Metagenome*
Metagenomics* / ethics
Microbiota
Privacy

Substances

DNA, Mitochondrial