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this is the first ive heard of mitochondria replicating separately and distinctly from the host cell, how fascinating!

Are we saying that mitochondria have their own life cycle inside of a cell? living/dying/replicating in the span of the "life" of a single host cell? When a host cell reproduces, how does the mitochondria get produced in the new cell to get things started?

Cant wait to research this later.

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The two halves of the divided cells will usually both have mitochondria. Not always, though; sometimes cell division leaves one cell without any mitochrondria. That usually results in a non-viable cell, but sometimes the cell can survive with limited capacity. Some species that used to have mitochondria have apparently been through this process and have evolved to survive in their absence; Giardia duodenalis for example.

Oh wow! It never occurred to me that there are creatures without mitochondria.

https://www.science.org/content/article/first-eukaryotes-fou...

> When a host cell reproduces, how does the mitochondria get produced in the new cell to get things started?

Each half of the cell keeps the mitocondria that were living inside it.

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