Encyclopedia:
Hydrophobe, Talk:Hydrophobic,
Hydrophobic effect,
Hydrophobic soil,
Hydrophobic collapse,
Talk:Hydrophobic effect,
Talk:Hydrophobic soil
Below is stuff that was added to
lipophilic while I was redirecting it to
hydrophobic. Some of it could be added to the article, but I think most of it belongs somewhere else.
Xevi 22:13, 14 Apr 2004 (UTC)
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Surfactants are unique compounds that have a
hydrophilic end and a lipophilic end. Soaps are surfactants. They dissolve oils and organic dirts and wash off with water. One part of the soap molecule is attracted to oil and the other part is attracted to water (
hydrophilic).
Cell membranes are composed of
phospholipids, which have a lipophilic end and a
hydrophilic end. It is said that
life could not have formed without these
phospholipid compounds. The
surfactant nature of the
phospholipid compounds in the aqueous
ocean environment a billion years ago caused these compounds to agglomerate into spherical
cells. Inside the
cells was
lipid material, which included other
organic molecules swimming about in the primordial soup. Outside the
cells was the
water environment. One of the other
phospholipid compounds formed in the ancient ocean environment was
ribonucleic acid and
deoxyribonucleic acid (
RNA and
DNA), which formed the blueprint for life. Protecting this
genetic material inside
cell membranes was an essential survival requirement for
life to form.
Thus, I ask, are
phospholipids a bit of
God?