Mitochondria
April 10th 2006 01:00
Hello Homo sapiens! Welcome to my blog on Human Physiology and Health. This is the place to discover interesting facts about our incredible and incredibly complex human bodies. (If you are not human, please trot away from the computer and do something else). I will be blogging on the “Body Part of the Day”, and will also be discussing health issues, and how to make your life healthier, titled “Healthy Living”. So sit back, let those metabolic processes take place, and enjoy some good science.
Body Part of the Day
Today’s body part is the mitochondrion. This is located in the cytoplasm of the animal cell (the jelly-like material that fills our cells) and functions to convert organic materials into energy in the form of ATP - Adenosine Triphosphate. ATP is the major energy source for most chemical reactions within the cell.
Our mitochondria carry out aerobic respiration, in which oxygen is used for these reactions to take place – the word ‘aerobic’ relates to oxygen. So mitochondria play an important role in converting oxygen into energy required for our bodies to function. And, there’s no surprise that cells with a larger energy requirement (like the ones in us humans) have more mitochondria in our cells than lower energy-requiring cells.
Body Part of the Day
Today’s body part is the mitochondrion. This is located in the cytoplasm of the animal cell (the jelly-like material that fills our cells) and functions to convert organic materials into energy in the form of ATP - Adenosine Triphosphate. ATP is the major energy source for most chemical reactions within the cell.
Our mitochondria carry out aerobic respiration, in which oxygen is used for these reactions to take place – the word ‘aerobic’ relates to oxygen. So mitochondria play an important role in converting oxygen into energy required for our bodies to function. And, there’s no surprise that cells with a larger energy requirement (like the ones in us humans) have more mitochondria in our cells than lower energy-requiring cells.
A mtiochondrion - home of our energy
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Comment by stephen
i look forward to the whole series.
-steve
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Comment by Loviatar