![]() ![]() Thus, the lipid bilayer, which spontaneously forms permeability barriers surrounding aqueous interiors, must be modified by macromolecules for the uptake of nutrients and the disposal of waste. In the case of membranes, we might start with the origin of life, noting that compartmentalization is essential for an organism, and that with compartmentalization must come specific ways to surmount the barrier defining the boundary of the compartment - the membrane. The reductionist view of biology, to which many adhere, rests in part on the structure–function hypothesis: that the structures we find are there for specific functional reasons selected by evolution. Articles in this Insight expose current views of the importance, findings and concepts in membrane biology in some regions of the emerging landscape. This is leading to a great expansion of interest in the area. But now we have a rising number of high-resolution structures, an abundance of functional data and an evolving conceptual basis for framing more pointed questions. Most methods require purification and observation in aqueous environments alien to the molecular design of a membrane, and so the field had to rely on oversimplified views that still dominate the texts and teaching in this area. Perhaps this is understandable in view of the technical hurdles that working with them presents. ![]() Given their biological importance, membranes have been surprisingly neglected by biochemists until recently. ![]()
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