Flower Power

Cells in our tissues exchange mitochondria – the cell's energy-producing organelles that if faulty can be the cause of many diseases – as a normal process. Here, with a nanomaterial called molybdenum disulphide nanoflowers researchers have induced cells to increase production of their mitochondria and then used them as couriers to transfer mitochondria to repair damaged cells. This is a strategy with potential for treating a group of genetic disorders known as mitochondrial diseases, as well as other acquired disorders associated with malfunctioning mitochondria, such as neurodegenerative disease

Read the published research article here

Written by Lindsey Goff

Lindsey Goff

Editor-in-Chief

Formerly immunologist for Cancer Research UK, Lindsey has since moved into the field of scientific publishing. She looks after all BPoD editorial matters.

• Video from work by John Soukar and colleagues
• Interdisiplinary program in Genetics and Genomics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
• Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), October 2025