Word: mitochondria
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...been able to explain satisfactorily how ATP was formed. Mitchell suggested the novel theory that the key to ATP synthesis is the creation of a kind of gradient -or difference in voltage-on opposite sides of the membranes of bacteria, as well as of such cellular bodies as mitochondria and chloroplasts. This gradient is coupled with a flow of protons (which Mitchell calls "proticity") that in turn provides the energy for the synthesis of ATP. In addition to explaining this vital cell process, the Swedish Academy noted, Mitchell's so-called chemiosmotic theory may suggest new technologies for meeting...
This new procedure should have tremendous impact on the growing field of membrane research. It has already been useful in the rapid isolation of membrane in mitochondria, HeLa cells and human red blood cells...
Palade, a Rumanian-born researcher who joined Rockefeller U. in 1946, combined Claude's two techniques to learn even more about cell structure. He delineated the fine structure of the mitochondria. These are bacteria-like bodies that probably joined the cell early in the evolutionary process and have lived in a symbiotic relationship with it ever since, helping it to "breathe." He also discovered and described the small granular components called ribosomes, which were later found to help manufacture the proteins essential for the proper functioning of the cell...
Almost as arresting as the nirvana caterpillar was a weird, 12-ft. high representation of the cell, basic unit of life, presented by Kalamazoo's Upjohn Co. Its shell was a fantastic latticework of clear plastic tubes. Inside were equally ingenious, sausage-shaped plastic gadgets representing mitochondria and fat globules. There was also a gaudy red nucleus, like a gang of tortured octopuses outdoing Laocoön's serpents, with centrosomes that made it look as though it had just landed from outer space...
...Williams pointed out that study of mitochondria has provided the bio-chemist with his first tangible evidence of the organization of enzyme systems within the cytoplasm of living cells. This work is facilitated by the use of the electron microscope...