𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗶𝘀...𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴?

For decades, every biology textbook drilled into us that mitochondria are the “powerhouse of the cell.” But a new Scientific American piece argues that’s misleading—and maybe even harmful to our understanding. (https://lnkd.in/gnN3CB_t)

Think about it this way:

𝘈 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺.

𝘈 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦.

The article argues that’s closer to what mitochondria really do—managing metabolism, immunity, cell death, and even genetic signaling.

Why it matters:

𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 (𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 “𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦”) 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘱 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺.

𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘣𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳, 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦: 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦?

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿—𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗲𝘀.

For those of you teaching, researching, or innovating in this space:

𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 “𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥” 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦?

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘢’𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺?