Mitochondrial DNA

What does it mean to you that mitochondria has its own DNA? Are there parallels with the prequels rendering of mitichloriates in anyway that would make a reasonable amount of sense? If the Force is energy then what does it mean that the job of mitochondria is to produce energy? Do you think there is anything deeper to this or is it merely a simple organelle that isn't really that important?

Power, Sex & Suicide, it's a book available in the library. Dry as hell, bring plenty of water... :whistle:

I think your conflating the metaphysical term energy with the chemical term energy.

Considering its role in energy production it probably confers an element of safety/survive-ability for the host cell if it were to cycle through its life cycle faster then the host cell, such that the cells other systems are buffered from mutations in the power source - as a main power source maybe mitochondria defects could emerge and can be rectified before the other slower rate systems fail through dependency of it. This way it would makes sense if they were their own system with its own code. How that relates to the Force depends on one point of view, to me it offers parallels to the impacts of other systems with their own DNA, like bacteria and viruses, and the importance or impact of them - in defining the interface of 'energy'.

The leading hypothesis on why mitochondria have their own genome is called endosymbiosis, symbiogenesis, or sometimes endosymbiotic theory. In short, it postulates that mitochondria (as well as chloroplasts and other plastids) were once free living prokaryotic organisms. At some point in the past, they were engulfed by another cell, perhaps a eukaryotic cell or a proto-eukaryotic cell, and instead of being digested, a symbiotic relationship formed between the engulfed cell and the host (the cell that did the engulfing). This explains why mitochondria and chloroplasts have circular chromosomes like prokaryotic cells, and why their ribosomes are they same size as prokaryotic ribosomes instead of the larger ribosomes seen everywhere else in eukaryotic cells.

Mitochondria are often called the “powerhouse of the cell”, but they don’t exactly ‘create’ energy in way. They are the location of aerobic respiration.
The immediate energy carrier for many cell functions is a molecule called Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). It essentially ‘carries’ energy around the cell and can ‘drop it off’ where something needs to happen, like muscle contraction. (That is heavily simplified, but it should convey the basic idea.)
What mitochondria do is they use oxygen to produce ATP much more efficiently than other process that take place outside the mitochondria in the cytosol (like glycolysis). That is, it can produce much more ATP from a given molecule of glucose or a fatty acid than other methods. It also does this in a way does not produce by products that can can build up and slow down the production process if they are not cleared from the cell fast enough (e.g. lactic acid). The trade off is that they do not produce ATP as fast as the non-aerobic methods.

All of that aside, unless i am mistaken, George Lucas has said that the idea behind midichlorians was inspired by or strongly influenced by His understanding of mitochondria. So yes, there is certainly a connection...

Yes I'm a big fan of a version of endosymbiotic theory where 'midichlorians' represent a category of bacteria, and that mitochondria's theoretical origin as bacteria provides a direct link to the creation of complex life that we see around us. Though, that is just a vehicle for me to explore in more depth the dynamics of the symbiotic relationships between bacteria and human health, in an ongoing sense of connection to a wider interconnected web of life and how it ebbs and flows, in a concept of the Force - and not something I'm asserting as explanatory or true. In effect, my approach is just a temporary scaffold or sand pit for effort to populate any interest I might have with actual knowledge

Hi, rogue bio major here!

I love this, I was actually just talking with my friend about mitochondria being the inspiration for midichlorians. Though George Lucas said midichlorians were inspired by mitochondria, it's a really loose connection since midichlorians and mitochondria don't seem to follow the same rules. Namely, mitochondria are passed through a matrilineal line. The sperm pretty much only provides the genetic material, the egg (which comes from the mother) is what contains pretty much all the organelles, including mitochondria. Following this logic, force sensitivity would be passed down matrilineally if mitrochonria=midichlorians. Obvious this isn't the case, a counterexample being Padme, who lacked force sensitivity, had 2 children that were force sensitive. Just wanted to add my 2 cents, I love nerdy science like this!