ABSTRACT
The applications to which man has put phospholipids over the years are indeed extremely wide-ranging and make use of physical, chemical, and biological aspects of the behavior of these molecules. In the broad and ill-defined field of biotechnology, phospholipids can be seen to be employed on three distinctly different levels. On the first level, phospholipids have application by virtue of the intrinsic properties of the individual molecules themselves. The second level of complexity displayed by phospholipids is their ability to form supramolecular structures that self-assemble. The third level of complexity at which phospholipids may be employed is when the assembly process itself is manipulated, and mechanisms introduced whereby assembly and disassembly of the structures formed may be controlled at will. Phospholipids have wide application in areas where stabilization of particle dispersions is required. A special application of the technology described above is the use of phospholipids in coating of recording tape with magnetic particles.
