A harmonic balancer sounds like a crucial part on a spaceship in some pulpy 1950s sci-fi story, or something you need so you can play music with hobos when you're ridin' the rails. However, it's actually an important part on your engine that helps your crankshaft last as long as possible.
U.S. National Library of Medicine (5.00 / 1 vote) Rate this definition: Mitochondria. Semiautonomous, self-reproducing organelles that occur in the cytoplasm of all cells of most, but not all, eukaryotes. Each mitochondrion is surrounded by a double limiting membrane. The inner membrane is highly invaginated, and its projections are called cristae.
Mitochondria are well-defined cytoplasmic organelles of the cell which take part in a variety of cellular metabolic functions. Survival of the cells requires energy to perform different functions.itochondria is a membrane bound cellular structure and is found in most of the eukaryotic cells. The mitochondria ranges from 0.5 to 1.0 micrometer in diameter. The mitochondria are sometimes described as power plants of the cells.