Discussion:
Photosynthesis and Respiration
Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis co-exist as paired processes. Photosynthesis converts light energy into organic molecules such as carbohydrates. These molecules are picked up and utilized as fuel sources in organisms that employ Cellular Respiration for production of ATP and CO2.
Although it appears that Photosynthesis has preceded Cellular Respiration by billions of years, the processes share many structural features.
1. Create a table comparing and contrasting the two processes. Include in your comparison variables such as organism type, energy source, cellular location, substrates/reactants/products, full and balanced chemical reaction, carrier molecules, and any other parameter you find relevant.
2. Apart from its essential role in cellular respiration, the mitochondrion is thought to be implicated in a variety of disease states as well as the process of ageing. The mitochondrion contains its own circular DNA molecule(s) (termed mtDNA) which largely encodes for proteins localized to the mitochondrion itself. Please provide a hypothesis and suggest an experiment to test the relationship between mtDNA and human ageing. Propose a direction for future research and drug development for targeting mtDNA to combat the ageing process.