Introduced by John Maddox
Biological membranes may hold the key to our understanding of cancer and other major human diseases.
Dr Mark Bretscher. from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Cambridge, describes how cell membranes are not solid shells, as was once believed, but consist of two dynamic fluid layers of lipids and proteins, in which molecules move freely. Dr Mel Greaves , from the Tumour Immunology Unit, University College. London, shows how the membrane of the cell surface is an elaborate sensory device, important in the interaction of the cell and its immediate environment, for example in sexual fusion and contact with viruses and antigens.
Editor MICHAEL BRIGHT