A new approach dubbed MiTo aims to track somatic cell lineage evolution by using mitochondrial single-cell multi-omics. The method is designed to trace how individual cells change phenotypically over time in complex tissues, addressing a core limitation in studying cellular development and disease progression without longitudinal lineage readouts. By leveraging mitochondrial features captured in single-cell assays alongside other multi-omics layers, the work positions mitochondria as an informative axis for reconstructing lineage shifts. If validated broadly, the technique could speed discovery of which cellular states emerge during disease progression and how those states relate to ancestry within tissues. The report presents MiTo as a technical breakthrough likely to expand capabilities for mapping evolving cellular ecosystems in both development and disease models.