Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2003. / Bibliography: leaves 124-131. Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Chemical Engineering. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

In order for organisms to co-exist with nonliving matter, envelop to protect their delicate internal functions must be present. There are other reasons for this boundary to exist, e.g. to limit the volume occupied by the organism and to compartmentalize the contents of the organism so that certain critical concentrations may be easily maintained. Such envelopes are, of course, the cellular membranes. Membranes differ greatly between species, as well as within species. Given the complexity to which organisms have evolved, membranes have developed with a myriad of functions and components. It is easy to see differences between plant cellular membranes and animal cell membranes as well as to see differences between mitochondrial and nuclear membranes within a single cell.