Worms and Beans

In my new workplace, I'm curretly involved in making laboratory scale membranes. Now for those not familiar with membranes, the scientific authority www.dictionary.com, defines it as :

1. Chemistry. A thin sheet of natural or synthetic material that is selectively permeable to substances in solution.

I admit I was the one that put in the word 'selectively' because even though dictionary.com IS the scientific authority, sometimes their description is'nt concise enough. For a more recognizable example of membranes, all of us, yes even those of you who think you are different from the rest, have cell membranes around most of our cells. An accurate diagram of such a cell membrane taken from a Super Powerful Atomic Microscope (SPAM) is shown below.

Now I'm not a biologist, but they tell us that all our cells (except the red blood cells who are born exhibitionists) have this coating of membrane around them. I'm not so sure about you but to me, that means we have a crap-load of purple beans and worms running around in us. And don't forget all that blue seaweed.

Back in my lab, synthetic membranes obviously cannot compare with the complexity (and puke-factor) of biological membranes. We're only trying to synthesize something like this on the left. I'm not sure how we've managed to get the green worms to bunch up underneath but I'm still only a novice and worm-manipulation.

Even then, my senior claims that manufacturing a working version of this will probably take up a year or so. Wait till I show him the purple worms and blue seaweed.

We'll be here forever.




For more information please refer to this website: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/portal/page?_pageid=100,371148&_dad=portallive&_schema=PORTALLIVE