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Our bodies are made of cells. Mitochondria are the parts of ourcells that generate the energy-rich molecules we use every instant ofour lives.
Billions of years ago, mitochondria were bacterial invaders,parasites of early cells. They joined forces with their hosts; now theyare essential.
“My mitochondria compose a very large proportion of me. I cannotdo the calculation, but I suppose there is almost as much of them insheer dry bulk as there is the rest of me. Looked at in this way, I couldbe taken for a large, motile colony of bacteria, operating a complexsystem of nuclei, micro tubules, and neurons, for the pleasure andsustenance of their families, and running, at the moment, atypewriter.”
–Lewis Thomas, “Organelles as Organism,” 1974
“We love Comrade Stalin more than Mommy and Daddy. MayComrade Stalin live to be one hundred! No, two hundred! No, threehundred!”
–Song sung by Soviet children, early 1950s1MAY 28
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
The last time I talked to Rob, I was checking my luggage atLindbergh Field to fly to Seattle and meet with an angel. My cell-phone beeped and flashed Nemesis, code for my brother. We hadn’tspoken in months.
