The essence of cellular respiration is the provision of energy to benefit the living organisms. Without giving energy, a particular organism could not perform work. Cellular respiration has been categorized into two, namely aerobic and anaerobic respiration. Thus, it is necessary because it can provide the energy for all living organisms to perform the needed functions in order to maintain life. This is also referred to as aerobic respiration that bacteria or other single-celled organisms don’t require much. However, a person’s ability to talk, think, and walk will require a huge amount of energy that aerobic respiration can provide. To shed more light into the situation, a number of pros and cons are presented here.
List of Pros of Cellular Respiration
1. Allows Cells to Harvest Energy
This is the most efficient way of harvesting energy that has been stored in food. This is a catabolic way in the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The presence of ATP, which is a molecule with high energy, allows the production of working cells. Cellular respiration has been occurring in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
2. Categories of Cellular Respiration
There are two categories of cellular respiration, which include aerobic and anaerobic respiration. The process of aerobic respiration will require oxygen to function properly. However, the anaerobic respiration is the opposite which is relatively rapid.
3. Produces Energy for the Body
Anaerobic respiration will only rely on carbohydrates to create energy, while aerobic process will use both fats and carbohydrates to make energy. If your training will require intense exercises, it is recommended that you consume more carbohydrates in order to fuel the anaerobic respiration.
List of Cons of Cellular Respiration
1. The Existence of Disease
When the cellular respiration will not work as planned, there will be a possibility for disease to come into play. For instance, aerobic glycolysis has been linked with Alzheimer’s disease in which cells are able to use glucose without going into the oxidative phosphorylation.
2. Tumor Cells
The process of cellular respiration has also been manipulated by tumor cells when they acquire energy. So, instead of the oxidative phosphorylation process, tumor cells performs the aerobic glycolysis that is capable of making lactic acid. Unlike fermentation, it is done using oxygen, which is an inefficient process that cancer cells use more glucose compared to healthy cells in order to reproduce and survive.
3. Has Something to do with Leigh’s Syndrome
Research found out that cellular respiration has been linked with Leigh’s syndrome. This is a rare disease of the brain in children in which the central nervous system degenerates. Likewise, as it progresses, the muscle development and motor skills weaken as a response.
When cells react to convert food into ATP, this process is called cellular respiration. The energy stored can be used to do light activities at home or simply sitting on the couch to watch television. These activities should require you to have a steady supply of ATP. Thus, the body needs more supply if you do more work. However, studies show that if the process will not work well, it has been linked in the development of certain diseases.
Brandon Miller has a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a seasoned writer who has written over one hundred articles, which have been read by over 500,000 people. If you have any comments or concerns about this blog post, then please contact the Green Garage team here.