History of cell membrane theory
Okay, so imagine you have a house. And you want to protect the things inside the house from the things outside the house. So, you close the doors and windows, right? This way, the things outside can’t get in and mess up your stuff.
Now, cells are like little houses too. They also have things inside that they want to protect from things outside. But instead of doors and windows, cells have something called a cell membrane. It’s like a fence or a wall around the cell.
Scientists have been studying cells for a long time. And a long long time ago, they didn’t really know much about cell membranes. They didn’t even know cells existed!
But then, in the 1600s, a guy named Robert Hooke looked at a piece of cork under a microscope and saw tiny boxes. He called them cells, like the rooms in a monastery. Other scientists started looking at cells too, and they found out more about how they worked.
But it wasn’t until the 1800s that scientists started to figure out the cell membrane. They realized that cells were made of something called protoplasm, which was kind of like jelly. And they thought that the protoplasm just flowed out of the cell and mixed with other protoplasm outside the cell.
But then, in the mid-1800s, a guy named Rudolf Virchow came up with a new idea. He said that cells don’t just merge with each other, but instead they have their own boundaries. He called it the “cell theory.” And he said that cells come from other cells, which is still true today.
More scientists started studying cells and the cell membrane. In the 1900s, they found out that the cell membrane was actually made up of two layers of molecules. And in the 1960s, they figured out that the molecules were phospholipids, which means they have a phosphate “head” and a lipid “tail.”
Today, scientists are still studying cell membranes and learning more about how they work. But we know for sure that the cell membrane is really important in protecting the cell and helping it work properly.
Now, cells are like little houses too. They also have things inside that they want to protect from things outside. But instead of doors and windows, cells have something called a cell membrane. It’s like a fence or a wall around the cell.
Scientists have been studying cells for a long time. And a long long time ago, they didn’t really know much about cell membranes. They didn’t even know cells existed!
But then, in the 1600s, a guy named Robert Hooke looked at a piece of cork under a microscope and saw tiny boxes. He called them cells, like the rooms in a monastery. Other scientists started looking at cells too, and they found out more about how they worked.
But it wasn’t until the 1800s that scientists started to figure out the cell membrane. They realized that cells were made of something called protoplasm, which was kind of like jelly. And they thought that the protoplasm just flowed out of the cell and mixed with other protoplasm outside the cell.
But then, in the mid-1800s, a guy named Rudolf Virchow came up with a new idea. He said that cells don’t just merge with each other, but instead they have their own boundaries. He called it the “cell theory.” And he said that cells come from other cells, which is still true today.
More scientists started studying cells and the cell membrane. In the 1900s, they found out that the cell membrane was actually made up of two layers of molecules. And in the 1960s, they figured out that the molecules were phospholipids, which means they have a phosphate “head” and a lipid “tail.”
Today, scientists are still studying cell membranes and learning more about how they work. But we know for sure that the cell membrane is really important in protecting the cell and helping it work properly.