Surface chemistry.The modifiction of membranes by surface-active agents

Abstract

The intense cytological studies of the last two decades have shown that cells, as well as most of the organelles within them, are covered with lipoprotein membranes (see Section 5.4). Life is possible only because of the presence of these biphasic membranes (lipophilic within, and hydrophilic on both outer surfaces), which provide for the separation of reactants. They also impose on the sequence of reactions an order that would otherwise be almost impossible to arrange.