"More midi-chlorians than me Anakin Skywalker has...". Was he really talking about mitochondria, our  "sub-microscopical endosymbiots" living in cells and delivering us the powers of the Force? Who care. What is interesting, is how did he know that:  Obi-Wan Kenoby detected the level of midi-chlorians in the Anakin Skywalker's blood in just about 30 sec with a hand-held device. This section does

not (yet) describe such a portable "mitochondria-on-a-chip" device. However, it may help you with the more mundane Frequently Asked Questions: how to assess  mitochondrial functions and how to measure the activity of mitochondrial enzymes. It is split, rather arbitrary, in the following sub-sections (click to load):

Reagents:

• Information on chemicals 
  
• Solutions

Extraction protocols:

• Isolation of mitochondria
• Fractionation of mitochondria
• Extraction and quantification of mtDNA and mtRNA

Enzymatic assays:

• Respiratory Chain Complexes
• Quinone reductases (Inner Membrane)
  
• Enzymes of Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle
• Enzymes of Fatty Acids oxidation 
• ATP phosporylation enzymes
• mtDNA and mtRNA-related enzymes
• Metabolite Transporters
• Mitochondrial ROS Defense System Enzymes
• Auxillary Enzymes (everything else not fitting the above categories)

Functional assays:

• ATP synthesis
• ATP/ADP exchange
• Respiration
• Membrane Potential
• pH gradient
• Production of Reactive Oxygen Species
• Ca²⁺ uptake and Ca²⁺ capacity
• Swelling
• Permeability Transition

Protein assays:

• Protein measurement
• Electrophoresis and Western Blot
• Non-denaturing electrophoresis of mitochondrial enzyme complexes
• 2D electrophoresis

to be continued...