Mitochondria are the organelles that generate energy in most complex organisms. According to endosymbiotic theory they were originally cells similar to bacteria that were swallowed by larger cells. Like chloroplasts they have their own DNA, which codes for many of their proteins. Mitochondria contain multiple copies of each chromosome, making it harder to correct errors.

This piece was created for SynBioExpo in collaboration with Grace Mullally from the Szczelkun Lab.