Power switch
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University in the US have discovered a genetic switch that is crucial to cell survival. They found the gene HIF-1 controls the rate at which cells are supplied energy and even helps them cope with the absence of oxygen.
A cell's energy demands are met by two major types of sugar (glucose) using machines similar to the two types of engines (internal combustion engine and an electric engine) in a hybrid car. One process uses the mitochondrion, an organelle that breaks down the glucose using oxygen. The other, called gylcolysis, does the same thing, though less efficiently, in the absence of oxygen.
The mitochondrion works as the internal combustion engine that needs ample oxygen for its operation. But this process also generates pollutants or toxic molecules.
When cells are starved of oxygen
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