Now in all those cell's functioning plasma on the inside [ 75 - 100 trillion of them] must be separated from all those functioning elements on the outside. Then, all those functioning gadgets on the inside need to separate from one another on the inside. Inside ... Outside ... who's to decide? Seems ... it is the membranes that decide. Who would have guessed of such a thing?
Membranes you say? What in the world? Well, you certainly would not guess it's mostly FATS! Fatty acids most formally called lipids. Start with good old atom C (carbon) and pick-up two H (hydrogen) atoms along the way and, pop-bead them on for as long as your beads will hold. Long, long chains of carbon and hydrogen formed into a row to form hydrocarbons. Structural lipids they are called in this three-dimensional world of plasma. [depth, length, width]!
For those who want to know. First and strongest, is the cell membrane. Then others inside the cell are the mitochondria membrane, endoplasmic recticulum membrane, lysosomes membrane, Golgi apparatus membrane, and the winner is the nuclear membrane. Lots of names and all with their own functions! Still, there are others floating about all the plasma! What a hoot!
The following reference gives a text for all those functions around and within the cells. All 75 to 100 trillion cells functioning together as a whole. There must be a quadrillion chemical reactions active at any one time in this biological structure!
McGilvery, R.W., Biochemistry a functional approach, W.B, Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 1970.
P.S. It contains one of my favorite quotes, "A book is a mirror: if an ass looks in, no apostle will look out". Inside cover pape.
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