Evolution Quote by Nick Lane
““Rather surprisingly, to anyone who is most familiar with textbook mitochondria, many simple single-celled eukaryotes have mitochondria that operate in the absence of oxygen. Instead of using oxygen to burn up food, these ‘anaerobic’ mitochondria use other simple compounds like nitrate or nitrite. In most other respects, they operate in a very similar fashion to our own mitochondria, and are unquestionably related. So the spectrum stretches from aerobic mitochondria like our own, which are dependent on oxygen, through ‘anaerobic’ mitochondria, which prefer to use other molecules like nitrates, to the hydrogenosomes, which work rather differently but are still related.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Vital Question by Nick Lane, 2015
Mitochondria can function without oxygen, using alternative compounds, showing metabolic diversity across life.
In simple terms: Mitochondria can work without oxygen, using other chemicals.
Key Takeaway
Explore alternative energy pathways in biology.
Themes
biology
metabolism
evolutionary diversity
Mood
curious
analytical
Type
scientific
educational
When to use this quote
- research labs
- education
- biotech development
- environmental studies
Key Concepts
cellular respiration
anaerobic processes
hydrogenosomes
Questions to Reflect On
- How do anaerobic mitochondria affect organismal adaptation?
- What implications does this have for bioenergy?
A Different Perspective
Oxygen‑dependent organisms may dominate in many contexts.
![“Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this [step by step, from humans to apes to monkeys to lemurs] - leading us insensibly from the crown and summit of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, as it seems, to the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0b/thomas-huxley-1183_animal_perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us_3051.jpg)
