Question

explain what is the difference between glycolysis in cancer cells ( The Warburg Effect) vs normal cells and how do you think this will impact the cells overall metabolism?

Answer 1

Normal cells primarily produce energy through mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. However, most cancer cells predominantly produce their energy through a high rate of glycolysis  followed by lactic acid even in the presence of abundant oxygen. Aerobic glycolysis is less efficient than oxidative phosphorylation in terms of ATP production.

Per unit of glucose, aerobic glycolysis is an inefficient means of generating ATP compared to the amount obtained by mitochondrial respiration. However, the rate of glucose metabolism through aerobic glycolysis is higher such that the production of lactate from glucose occurs 10-100 times faster than the complete oxidation of glucose in the mitochondria.