Over the years, the safety of many food additives, from food dyes to trans fats, has come into question. A scare over a food additive may linger in our minds long after researchers find that there's actually no cause for alarm.
In cell biology, a mitochondrion (plural mitochondria) is an organelle found in most eukaryotic cells. Mitochondria are sometimes described as cellular power plants, because their primary function is to convert organic materials into energy. Note: The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article Mitochondrion, which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Mitochondria vary in number and location according to cell type. A single mitochondrion is often found in unicellular organisms. Conversely, numerous mitochondria are found in human liver cells, with about 1000â2000 mitochondria per cell, making up 1/5 of the cell volume.