In Our Time: Mitochondria

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. It is now understood that mitochondria take components from the food people eat and convert them into energy. Mitochondria are essential for complex life, but as the components that run metabolisms they can also be responsible for a range of diseases - and they probably play a role in how humans age