how small can life be to utilize aerobic respiration?
Feb.25, 2010 in
Aerobic Respiration
Im building an aquarium for miniature humans and there lungs are so small. i want to know at what level of miniaturization aerobic respiration is impossible?
note this is just a thought experiment for a theology book Im witting, Im not really making a human aquarium.
February 25th, 2010 at 1:59 am
Well, aerobic respiration is actually a cellular process, meaning it occurs in the cells. Lung size is another matter. The size of animal cells is fairly standard depending on the type of cell and environment. I suppose if you shrank a human, their respiratory system would just be made of less cells… and at the aquarium size they should still be able to have fully functioning systems. After all, frogs and lizards all fit in aquariums, have lungs and utilize aerobic respiration!