Compared with genomic DNA, mtDNA presents several advantages (46, 47): (1) it can be isolated rapidly because of its size and the high number of copies in the cell; (2) it accumulates mutations very quickly; and (3) unlike heterozygous genomic DNA, which gives 4 different conformations with SSCP analysis, mitochondrial DNA is haploid, which means that only 2 ssDNA bands are obtained.