Skip to main content

Power to the genome: Scientists decipher how the nucleus gets its energy

Power to the genome: Scientists decipher how the nucleus gets its energy

June 11, 2026

A University of Arizona-led team finds that mitochondria — the cell’s power plants — plug directly into the nucleus, fueling the genes that build the heart, brain and body.

Image
A portrait of Hesham A. Sadek and Ivan Menéndez-Montes, who stand side by side

Hesham A. Sadek, MD, PhD, director of the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center, left, and Ivan Menéndez-Montes, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the U of A, are studying how cellular metabolism influences development, gene regulation and disease.