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Electron transport chain

Harvard Online · 3.7M views · 2017-10-09 · 7:45

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Overview

A short Harvard Online animated lesson on how the mitochondrial electron transport chain works. It shows proton pumping and the machinery that drives ATP synthesis.

On Hacker News

HN commenters share it to show how cells work as nanoscale machines, which many find mind-blowing.

Recommended by 6 HN people across 5 months · HN mentions 2020–2024

Topics

Biology & biotechnology
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mitochondriaelectron transport chainatp synthaseproton gradientbiochemistry

What people said

rawgabbit · 2024-11 · Recommendation

Here is an animation of the Mitochondria in action. The mitochondria has two cell membranes. The gap in between is called the intermembrane space. It is also positively charged with protons. There are complexes 1-4 which continuously pump protons into this space. The ATP synthase molecule harnesses these protons, similar to a water wheel harnessing the flow of water, to make ATP which is the energy molecule the cell uses. [VIDEO]

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enslavedrobot · 2023-02 · Recommendation

It's a very complex topic (especially if you aren't a chemist). I can't find an accessible video on the topic, but you want to look up photosystem II repair. You need to search up D1 replacement in photosystem II. To get a flavour of the nanomachine aspect of it all, check out this video on electron transport across membranes ( [VIDEO] ). Electron transport in proteins is crazy complex and actually amounts to molecular circuits where energy is guided to different spots inside proteins complexes in a unidirectional fashion. This guy is the grand daddy of the field ( [LINK] ).

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thanatos519 · 2022-10 · Recommendation

An incredible story! Somewhere in [VIDEO] or [LINK] the narrator casually says "... and this is why we breathe oxygen ..."

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Sources

Video by Harvard Online, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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