All living cells are enclosed by a plasma membrane which is made of a phospholipid bilayer.It forms a physical barrier that allows the internal environment of a cell to have different conditions from the cell's external environment.The plasma membrane is selectively permeable and controls what substances move in and out of the cell.Bacteria and plant cells have plasma membrane surrounded by a cell wall.

Membrane Structure
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Specification: OCR Biology A (H020), AS-level, 2.1.5 Biological membranes. Topic: Plasma Membrane.
Key terms in this lesson
- phospholipid bilayer
- Two layers of phospholipid molecules arranged with hydrophilic heads facing outwards and hydrophobic tails facing inwards, forming the basic structure of cell membranes.
- selectively permeable
- Describes a membrane that allows some substances to cross it but not others.
More in Plasma Membrane
- Fluid Mosaic Model
- Membrane Proteins
- Glycoproteins
- Glycolipids
- Extrinsic Proteins
- Cholesterol
- Sites of Chemical Reactions
- Effect of Temperature
All 18 lessons in Plasma Membrane · All OCR AS-level Biology topics