cell bio professor closed out today’s lecture on free-radical oxidation in mitochondria and programmed cell death by saying “you’ve probably all seen those commercials for fruit juice that says it’s got antioxidants, which are said to prevent this sort of thing from happening, or at least slow it down. well, they don’t work. this is an inevitable fact of life— this process that lets us live is also the thing that kills us, and it’s why all of us will die someday. there’s no escaping that. it’s been with us since the dawn of eukaryotic cells; our pact with mitochondria is to the death. anyway, enjoy the rest of your friday, and remember, exam four is next week!”
