how was mitochondria discovered?

Answer 1

The history of mitochondria started a million years ago, but the history of mitochondria with the scientist only really started 150 years ago.

- 1857 : Kölliker discovers the mitochondria in muscle.

- 1890 : Altmann describes a technique to dye mitochondria and postulate their metabolic and genetic autonomy.


- 1912 : Warburg makes the hypothesis of the existence of a respiratory enzyme that activates the oxygen and can be inhibited by cyanide.


- 1923 : Keilin shows the variation of redox state of cytochrome during respiration.


- 1929 : Fiske and Subbarow isolate ATP.


- 1933 : Keilin isolates the cytochrome c and reconstitutes the electron transfer into homogenate of myocardial tissue.


- 1937-1941 : Kalckar and Belitser, independently, make the first studies of oxidative phosphorylation.


- 1940-1943 : Claude isolates liver mitochondria.


- 1948-1950 : Kennedy and Lehninger show that tricarboxilic acid cycle, ß-oxidation and oxidative phosphorylation take place in mitochondria.


- 1951 : Lehninger shows the coupling between oxidative phosphorylation and the transfer of electrons in the respiratory chain of mitochondria.


- 1965-1967 : Mitchell and Moyle show the mitochondrial proton translocation.


- 1968 : Chappell obtains evidence for a number of transport systems in which anions are involved.

- 1974 : Nicholls finds the control of heat production in brown fat mitochondria by the modulation of their proton conductance.


- 1978 : Mitchell (Nobel Prize) sets up the chemiosmotic theory.


- 1981 : Anderson et Coll. report the genetic structure of human mitochondrial DNA.


- 1986-87 : Tanaka et Coll. elucidate that the mitochondrial-gene encoded subunits are selectively defective in the respiratory chain complexes of skeletal muscle from patients being attacked by mitochondrial myopathies.

- 1992 : Wallace reports mtDNA mutations to be the cause of degenerative diseases.


- 1997 : Boyer receives the Nobel Prize for his work on ATPsynthase.

Answer 2

An accident. It was this one scientist (I forget the name) and he spilled this chemical on this one surface. It turned into spots. He found with his microscope that there was mitochondria on his surface and that the chemical that he spilled was penicillen.