Did a Simple Oil Drop Experiment Reveal the Bilayer Structure?

💡 The Answer

• In 1925, Gorter and Grendel extracted lipids from red blood cells and spread them as a monolayer.
• The monolayer area was twice the cell surface area, proving the membrane is a lipid bilayer.
• They used an organic solvent and a Langmuir trough to measure the film at air-water interface.
• This elegant experiment laid the foundation for all modern membrane biology.