Membrane Surfactants and Lipids

structure, and fluidity of membrane lipids are also important characteristics because those aspects of the amphiphilic molecules make it possible for them to efficiently pack into a variety of bilayer membrane structures with various degrees of curvature and flexibility. That flexibility makes possible the inclusion of other important components of the cell wall, including proteins, glycoproteins, and cholesterol. 

When conditions such as temperature change, the organism often synthesizes new molecules (e.g., more or less saturated fatty acid chains in a lipid) to fit the new conditions. Clearly, the creation and functioning of biological membranes cannot be a haphazard process of trial and error in selecting the proper lipids for 

Other aspects of the interactions of lipids and bilayer structures in biological systems can be understood in the context of molecular geometry, association phenomena, and general interfacial interactions. Unfortunately, those topics are too broad to be included here. It will be interesting to see how future research in molecular biology is able to incorporate the fundamentals of surface and colloid science into a better understanding of the function of membranes, cells, and entire organisms. 

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