ABSTRACT
It is fascinating to realize that the first indication of the bimolecular lipid nature of cell membranes was obtained through the use of a monomolecular air/water interface biomembrane model system. Gorter and Grendel 1 compared the calculated external surface area of a set of disc-like erythrocytes, and the area obtained from the extracted lipid materials when spread and compressed at the air/water interface, on a film balance. They concluded that the surface area of the lipid monolayer was close to twice that of the erythrocytes and hence proposed the bilayer structure that is now generally accepted as a basis for much of the lipid structure of the membrane. Unfortunately, their experimental approach was flawed.
