2009 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2009. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.

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If millions of years ago, ancestral cells don't have mitochondria, how those cells can get ATP without ATP produced by mitochondria?      David Bodine, M.D., Ph.D.: I investigate the genetics of pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells (PHSCs) to improve the effectiveness of bone marrow transplantation and to find better ways to use these unique cells for gene replacement therapy. One theory is that single cells entered in something like a symbiotic relationship with bacteria. The bacteria stay in the cells are fed and protected and in return they make ATP very efficiently. Millions of years later, both the cells and the other organism blended into one. Anthro-Therizino (7th grade student)

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