Mitochondria

The products: Age-defying products that target wrinkles or gray hairs are missing one of the real driving forces behind aging. Over the years, cells throughout the body lose mitochondria, tiny powerhouses that provide energy for all sorts of vital functions. This cellular power-outage is one reason older people limp along with a fraction of the zip and pep that they enjoyed in earlier days. Aging mitochondria may do more than sap energy. In recent years, some scientists have speculated that worn-out power factories in the cells may contribute to a host of age-related problems including memory loss, Parkinson's disease and Type 2 diabetes.

Autistic children have a high incidence of defects in mitochondria, the "powerhouses" of cells, but it is not yet clear if those defects are a cause of the disorder or a byproduct of some more fundamental defect, UC Davis researchers said Tuesday. Mitochondria create energy for cellular metabolism and when they are dysfunctional, cells do not operate efficiently. That can be particularly disruptive for cells, such as brain cells, that have high energy demands. A lack of energy for brain cells during development could help explain why children with autism do not function properly.

Autistic children have a high incidence of defects in mitochondria, the "powerhouses" of cells, but it is not yet clear if those defects are a cause of the disorder or a byproduct of some more fundamental defect, UC Davis researchers said Tuesday. Mitochondria create energy for cellular metabolism and when they are dysfunctional, cells do not operate efficiently. That can be particularly disruptive for cells, such as brain cells, that have high energy demands. A lack of energy for brain cells during development could help explain why children with autism do not function properly.

The products: Age-defying products that target wrinkles or gray hairs are missing one of the real driving forces behind aging. Over the years, cells throughout the body lose mitochondria, tiny powerhouses that provide energy for all sorts of vital functions. This cellular power-outage is one reason older people limp along with a fraction of the zip and pep that they enjoyed in earlier days. Aging mitochondria may do more than sap energy. In recent years, some scientists have speculated that worn-out power factories in the cells may contribute to a host of age-related problems including memory loss, Parkinson's disease and Type 2 diabetes.

A genetic mutation in small, energy-producing bodies called mitochondria is the cause of a rare form of epilepsy called myoclonic epilepsy, a Georgia scientist has found. The discovery marks the first time that a biological and genetic mechanism for such a brain disorder has been worked out in detail, geneticist Douglas Wallace of Emory University said in a telephone interview Friday. This discovery "is very exciting . . .

More than 95% of all North and South American Indians are descended from a small band of hardy pioneers that included perhaps as few as four women, who crossed the Bering Strait from Asia between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago, according to new studies of the American Indians' genetic inheritance. Their descendants spread out to become tribes as disparate as the Algonquins of the U.S.

If every "miracle" weight-loss product really did the job, people everywhere would be cinching up their belts, gyms would become eerily quiet and TV stations would soon run out of B-roll footage of big bellies at the mall. Clearly, some weight-loss products fall short of their claims. But how can you spot the scams? The Federal Trade Commission has some basic guidelines: Don't trust any product that claims to work for everyone or anything that supposedly helps you lose more than 2 pounds in a week.

Caltech scientists report some of the most convincing evidence yet that aging is tightly linked to genetic mutations in the small compartments where cells manufacture their energy. The results, published today in the journal Science, lend strong support to a decade-old theory of how people age that centers on mitochondria, the tiny power generators in all cells.

Imagine Los Angeles with half its power plants shut down. At best, such conditions would produce a "brownout," with large sections of the city working far below optimum efficiency. At worst, traffic lights would blink out, leaving arteries clogged; the computers vital to the city's activities would go off-line and communications would be severely impaired, leaving the entire city rudderless. Now imagine your body with three-quarters of its energy-producing factories shut down. The brain would be impaired, vision would dim, muscles would twitch spastically, the heart would weaken and the liver would be impaired.

Mice genetically engineered to produce above-normal levels of an antioxidant in their mitochondria lived about 20% longer -- an extra 5 months -- researchers from the University of Washington reported this week in the journal Science. The researchers cited the findings as evidence that antioxidants can counteract the effects of aging and disease. Mitochondria are the cell's powerhouses, and the extra antioxidant was only effective there.

Caltech scientists report some of the most convincing evidence yet that aging is tightly linked to genetic mutations in the small compartments where cells manufacture their energy. The results, published today in the journal Science, lend strong support to a decade-old theory of how people age that centers on mitochondria, the tiny power generators in all cells.

Imagine Los Angeles with half its power plants shut down. At best, such conditions would produce a "brownout," with large sections of the city working far below optimum efficiency. At worst, traffic lights would blink out, leaving arteries clogged; the computers vital to the city's activities would go off-line and communications would be severely impaired, leaving the entire city rudderless. Now imagine your body with three-quarters of its energy-producing factories shut down. The brain would be impaired, vision would dim, muscles would twitch spastically, the heart would weaken and the liver would be impaired.

A genetic mutation in small, energy-producing bodies called mitochondria is the cause of a rare form of epilepsy called myoclonic epilepsy, a Georgia scientist has found. The discovery marks the first time that a biological and genetic mechanism for such a brain disorder has been worked out in detail, geneticist Douglas Wallace of Emory University said in a telephone interview Friday. This discovery "is very exciting . . .

More than 95% of all North and South American Indians are descended from a small band of hardy pioneers that included perhaps as few as four women, who crossed the Bering Strait from Asia between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago, according to new studies of the American Indians' genetic inheritance. Their descendants spread out to become tribes as disparate as the Algonquins of the U.S.

For the first half of the 20th century, the cell was a mysterious, unfathomable entity. Nutrients went in and hormones, wastes and other products came out. But what happened in between was anybody's guess. Light microscopes could reveal the rough details of the cell's interior, but not with enough precision to illuminate function. Chemical studies were rudimentary at best. Three men changed that. Albert Claude of the Rockefeller Institute - now University - adapted the electron microscope to image cells, allowing a much higher resolution.

Scientists have demonstrated a new type of gene therapy that would - in principle - allow mothers to avoid saddling their children with rare diseases that could result in heart problems, dementia, diabetes, deafness and other significant health issues. The disorders in question are all due to mutations in one of the 37 genes in our mitochondrial DNA. “Mitochondria are structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use,” according to this explainer from the NIH's National Library of Medicine.