Mitochondria perform cellular respiration, a process that uses oxygen, generates carbon dioxide, and produces chemical energy for the cell. The answer is False. Mitochondria use oxygen to generate energy and are thought to have evolved from aerobic bacteria nevertheless, mitochondria cannot function for long when isolated from the cell because they are parasites.Mitochondria contain their own genome, are able to duplicate, and actually divide on a different time line from the rest of the cell.