Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
This lecture covers the structure of the plasma membrane, focusing on the lipid bilayer. The instructor explains the experiments conducted by Götter and Randall in 1925 and 1970 to determine the bilayer structure and fluidity of the membrane. The lecture delves into the extraction and purification of phospholipids, the use of osmosis to break the membrane, and the Langmuir trough experiment to study monolayers. The significance of electron microscopy in visualizing the membrane's three-laminar structure is also discussed, along with the misconception of the 'sandwich model' for protein-lipid arrangement. The session concludes with a preview of the Fry and Edidine experiment.