D05 : Active Mitochondria


Students Milla Tarnopolsky
School HWDSB - Dalewood - Hamilton
Level Junior 7/8 - Grade 8
Group Group 6 - Health Sciences I
Abstract I will be measuring the relationship between physical fitness and mitochondrial DNA content in a cheek swab sample from athletic vs. non-athletic teenagers (13-17 y) in order to determine if a simple/non-invasive test can be used to reflect physical fitness. Therefore, my main purpose was to see if mtDNA content also reflects physical fitness in adolescents. If so, this could be a relatively non-invasive measurement (no muscle biopsy) to determine mitochondrial capacity in athletes and possibly patients with mitochondrial disease.