Is that why we keep getting intrusive thoughts about mitochondria being the powerhouse of the cell?
this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2024
53 points (100.0% liked)
Science
14904 readers
1 users here now
Subscribe to see new publications and popular science coverage of current research on your homepage
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
Naw, that's just the fact mitochondria are the reason life is as we know it. It's pretty much the cousin of chloroplast too!
But mitochondria actually forfeited a majority of its genome to the host organism when it became the powerhouse of the cell. This is how we influence it's processes and output. It did retain enough of it's genome to be able to synthesize the required proteins for the job, but all in all, the host is in control of the mitochondria.
Woooosh!
Yet when I yeet DNA at someone's head there is no one to investigate & science it.
There is if it's part of a crime.
I ... I don't think I can do it in the middle of a bank robbery.
Not with that attitude!
Always knew these little powerhouses were destined for greatness.
So my brain is gettin nutted on by my mitochondria?
Kind of, however, a nut contains sperm cells which are gametes. Only reproductive cells are gametes, as they need half the total DNA of all our other cells. This is what allows an eggs and sprem to make a new human. The coolest aspect here is how genetic variation is ensured during this process. But nonetheless, that mitochondrial DNA getting splattered all over your brain is from somatic cells. So it has twice the amount of DNA in it than a nut lol.
So this could be something that accounts for those sudden ailments. Aging in general, living to 300 isn't ideal if NUMT's wreak havoc on us.
Parasite Eve eve?
My brain kept adding "captain" to the leading scientist's name. Probably too many mtDNA insertions.