Membranes

Abstract

The view that all phenomena of life are more or less intimately associated with the existence of cell membranes has become a powerful candidate for superseding the often quoted dictum of F. Engels that life is a form of existence of proteins. Indeed, various types of membranes serve as the locale of most enzyme activities of a cell, provide the physical basis of locomotion, intercellular contacts, secretion and uptake, are involved in protein synthesis and cell division. To explore the manifold functions of cell membranes would mean to write a book on biochemistry, physiology and biophysics combined, something that no serious scholar could attempt at this age of specialization. Still, while bearing in mind the title of the book and concentrating on one particular function of cell membranes, viz. the transport of ions and molecules, we shall first briefly review the existing knowledge of the structure and function of biological membranes in general.

“And where it is of a less thickness the Attraction may be proportionally greater, and continue to increase, until the thickness do not exceed that of a single Particle of the Oil. There are therefore Agents in Nature able to make the Particles of Bodies stick together by very strong Attractions. And it is the Business of experimental Philosophy to find them out.”

Isaac Newton, Opticks