Page 121 - The Cell in 40 Topics

he energy we need to stand up and walk, stand on our feet,
breathe, and open our eyes—in short, for our very survival—is
produced in power stations in our cells known as mitochon-
dria. The aptness of this comparison can clearly be seen when we examine
the processes that take place in these microscopic organelles.
Oxygen plays the major role in the production of energy in the cell,
but oxygen also has many assistants. In just about every phase of energy
production, several enzymes enter the equation with their exceedingly con-
scious behavior; the enzymes that complete their functions in one stage
make way for others in the next. Thus thanks to dozens of intermediate
processes and the countless chemical reactions and hundreds of different
enzymes involved in these processes, the energy stored in foodstuffs, hav-
ing been digested, is transmuted into a form that can benefit the cell.
During these many changes, these enzymes never create any confusion,
and their order never goes wrong. All the components work together as a
disciplined team (Figure 95).
We can say that the power station inside our cells, just 1/100 millime-

119