"Mitochondria IS the powerhouse of the cell" - is this grammatically correct?

In science as well as pop-culture, I've seen "Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell" in the singular.

However, "mitochondria" is the plural form of "mitochondrion", which leads me to think that the popular phrase is a grammatically incorrect one since it uses "is", whereas it should be using "are": Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell.

Am I missing something here? Is there a different aspect in the context of how these words are used generally in the scientific terminology, or the popular use of this phrase is just grammatically incorrect?

Solution 1:

If you could give an example from a scientific source, that would be helpful.

The specific phrase "mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell" or “the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell" appears to be a meme. Memes can proliferate even when they aren’t grammatical or well worded; it’s not exactly the same thing as “popular usage” of an ordinary, non-meme phrase or saying.

The choice of just one author to use this wording in some popular, highly imitated online post might have been the ultimate cause of why you see it so often on the internet.

You’re correct that “mitochondria” is a plural noun in standard usage, so the correct phrasing would be instead “mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell”, “mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell”, or “the mitochondrion is the powerhouse of the cell.”