Glendale Community College Â· 6000 West Olive Avenue Â· Glendale Arizona 85302 Â· (623) 845-3000. Glendale Community College - North Campus Â· 5727 West Happy Valley Road Â· Phoenix Arizona 85310 Â· (623) 888-7000. Legal Disclaimer | Accreditation | Policies & Disclosures.
The Cell Membrane is a Fluid Mosaic. A cell is the basic unit of life, and all organisms are made up of one or many cells. One of the things that all cells have in common is a cell membrane. It is a barrier that separates a cell from its surrounding environment. This outer boundary of the cell is also called the plasma membrane.
The modern view of membrane structure, known as the fluid mosaic model, was developed in 1972 by S. J. Singer and G. L. Nicholson and reflects three basic features of membrane structure. Integral membrane proteins, when viewed from above one surface or the other, contribute a mosaic or pebbled pattern to a membrane, and these proteins and the membrane lipids are capable of lateral movement in the plane of the membrane, due to the fluid nature of lipid association.