Facts About the Kreb Cycle

The Krebs cycle, also known as the citric acid cycle, demonstrates how cells produce enough energy to survive. It is "a fundamental metabolic pathway involving eight enzymes essential for energy production through aerobic respiration," according to Glenn Croston, Ph.D., on BioCarta.com.

History

• Hans A. Krebs proposed the process that would become known as the Krebs cycle in 1937. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1953.

Conception

• Originally, the Krebs cycle was formulated to explain the oxidation of carbohydrates by animal fats, according to the Krebs cycle, a website, but it was later proven to also explain the oxidation of fats.

Other Aerobic Cells

• Krebs ultimately showed that the cycle occurred in nearly all aerobic cells, not just those in animals, according to the Krebs cycle website.

Mitochondria

• The Krebs cycle takes places inside the mitochondria, or "power plant," of a cell, according to the Krebs cycle website.

Oxygen

• The availability of oxygen is critical to the ability of the Krebs cycle to function, though oxygen is not involved directly in any of the cycle's steps, according to BioCarta.com.