Welcome to the Fun Facts about organelles Actually

Welcome to the Fun Facts about organelles. Actually, they’re not exactly fun…

Keep this in mind: When you have a complex system with a lot of working parts, it’s a beautiful design…as long as everything is working correctly. This is true whether you’re talking about an automobile engine or a cell

Unfortunately this principle is in operation: The more working parts, the more possibilities of things going wrong.

And so, there ailments associated with the malfunction of each and every organelle…

1. Nucleus

Progeria is a childhood disease characterized by premature aging. It’s caused by a mutation of nuclear membrane’s lamin A gene. This is Sam Berns. He died at 17

7 year old Lindsay Ratcliff

2. Ribosomes

Fanconi anemia is a bone marrow failure disease brought on by impaired ribosomes. One result is thumbs that only attach by threads.

3. Golgi apparatus

Achondrogenesis is caused by a defect in the Golgi apparatus. The pituitary does not produce enough growth hormone, and results in an abnormally short trunk and tiny limbs.

4. Lysosomes

Fabry’s disease occurs when lysosomes are too full of indigestible molecules. One odd symptom are the little red skin lesions called angiokeratoma.

5. Mitochondria

Mutations of the mt. DNA (mitochondrial DNA) cause CPEO (Chronic Progressive External Ophthalmoplegia), which is a weakness of eye muscles causing droopy eyelids and the inability to move the eyeballs.

6 -7. Endoplasmic Reticulum

The ER is where protein folding takes place. ER stress can cause a failure in protein folding. An example is when our friends the pancreatic beta cells fail and it results in Type 2 Diabetes.