• Question: what is mitochondria?

    Asked by karolina to Christie, Dawn on 15 Jun 2016. This question was also asked by Caitlin, Maddy.
    • Photo: Dawn Lau

      Dawn Lau answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      Mitochondria are the energy centres of the cell. They are double membrane organelles and contain their own DNA. Their primary purpose is to convert glucose within the cells into ATP, which is fuel for the cells. Every cell has several mitochondria, and depending on how much energy the cell needs, there will be more mitochondria produced to meet the energy demands of the cell.

    • Photo: Christie Waddington

      Christie Waddington answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      Ah, my speciality! So mitochondria are called the “powerhouses of the cell” because they produce cellular energy called ATP from glucose, obtained from our food. This ATP is used to fuel all the processes in our cells to keep us functioning. But what’s interesting is that not all cells have mitochondria! Red blood cells are special as they have no nuclei and no mitochondria. They still make their energy from glucose, they just can’t produce as much ATP.

      Humans belong to a group called eukaryotes, which all contain mitochondria. The mitochondria was originally a bacteria (alpha-proteobacteria) that was absorbed by the first eukaryote and it stayed there! The mitochondria therefore also contain their own DNA. Its not as big as the DNA in the nucleus (its only 16,579 bases long, whereas nuclear DNA is 2 million!) but contains some genes which are needed for making ATP.

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