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Mitochondrial Dysfunction In Parkinson's Disease

Decent Essays

Bailey King
Professor Mix
Bio 112
3-7-17

Mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease VPS35 is a gene that plays a huge role in the membrane protein-recycling retromer complex. There are three genes that are known to be associated with Parkinson’s disease, SNCA and LRRK2, which are similar to each other, and one that is different. VPS35 is the third gene associated with Parkinson’s disease that causes an increase in the degrading of DML 1 complexes. The authors of this article want to know why mutation of the VPS35 gene leads to neurodegeneration. The researchers used mice for their experiment that housed the VPS35 mutant gene. One of the major results that the researchers found were that the VPS35 mutations associated with Parkinson’s …show more content…

The main point of the article was to find out why the VPS35 gene mutation lead to neurodegeneration. In class, we discussed a little bit about the mitochondria and how it’s the powerhouse of the cell, and how that is what really gives us most of our energy currency, but we never covered anything in this much depth about any organelle. The mitochondria has always been my favorite organelle, so being able to really dive deep into the topic of fission within the mitochondria amazes me. Another mind boggling topic is thinking about how many more processes go on within that one organelle that I don’t know about, yet. What I learned about had to do with the fission process. Just imagine how many other processes go on in the mitochondria alone. This article helped me gain a better appreciation for the course material by bringing me back down to Earth a little bit. It’s extremely easy to get caught up with important, or even non-important issues in our lives. However, when you read a scholarly science article that deals with the subject of biology, it exposes one part of a certain world; you allow yourself to calm down a little bit while truly understanding the importance of biology. I gain more and more respect for science and the subject of biology each time I learn something new. This article allowed me to understand how much we, as humans, take for granted. I know that I don’t always treat my body with the respect it deserves and this article has inspired me to try to make a change in myself and give my body, cells, and organelles the respect they

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