"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Mitochondria

In biology, mitochondria (plural) are the parts of a cell which are responsible for providing the cell with energy; The powerhouse of the cell.

Sink introduced me to this word by describing her 13 year old as ‘mighty mitochondria’ – what a great description for a bundle of energy!

2 comments:

  1. Mitochondria are thought to originally have been autonomous bacteria which were engulfed by larger, eukaryotic microorganisms (that's us! At the unicellular stage).

    ReplyDelete
  2. So now I have learned another word - thank you, Archduchess:- A eukaryote is an organism whose cells are organized into complex structures enclosed within membranes. Most living organisms, including all animals, plants, fungi, and protists, are eukaryotes.

    ReplyDelete