• Question: Whats a mitochondria ?

    Asked by hoola to Ollie, Amy on 13 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by charliemac21, iamharry.
    • Photo: Ollie Russell

      Ollie Russell answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      Mitochondria are a part of the cell. Everybody’s cells have different structures in them that do different things to make the cell do its job. Just like every cell has a nucleus (except red blood cells) every cell also has mitochondria.

      Mitochondria are very important for the cell. This is because they turn sugars from the food we eat into a small molecule called ATP. The cell uses ATP to carry out its functions. Without ATP the cell will die.

    • Photo: Amy Reeve

      Amy Reeve answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Good answer Ollie. 🙂

      Mitochondria are like the batteries of our cells but they also play a role in cell death, in making proteins containing Iron and in making sure our cells don’t contain too much calcium. Mitochondria also produce ‘reactive oxygen species’, these are versions of oxygen that can be very damaging to cells.

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