I'm quite interested in mitochondria from an evolutionary and ecological perspective. A lot of my work revolves around trying to understand how the mitochondria has helped organisms adapt to different environments. I think there's a big change happening now, which is going to be a big revolution in how we perceive medicine. It could be that instead of thinking purely of neurodegeneration as neuronal cells dying or being damaged, it could be thinking of the mitochondria throughout the body. We're just diving in and seeing where it takes us at the moment.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the power-packs within cells in all complex life on Earth.
Inside each cell of every complex organism there are structures known as mitochondria. The 19th century scientists who first observed them thought they were bacteria which had somehow invaded the cells they were studying. We now understand that mitochondria take components from the food we eat and convert them into energy.
Mitochondria are essential for complex life, but as the components that run our metabolisms they can also be responsible for a range of diseases – and they probably play a role in how we age. The DNA in mitochondria is only passed down the maternal line. This means it can be used to trace population movements deep into human history, even back to an ancestor we all share: mitochondrial Eve.
With
Mike Murphy
Professor of Mitochondrial Redox Biology at the University of Cambridge
Florencia Camus
NERC Independent Research Fellow at University College London
and
Nick Lane
Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry at University College London
Producer Luke Mulhall