Phospholipid Bilayer

[Michael Cheverie]

Hi! A phospholipid is a fat molecule that consists of a head and two tails. The "head" is a compound molecule that contains a phosphate ion and a glycerol molecule. The "tails" consist of a chain of linked carbon atoms that have hydrogen atoms stuck to either side of the carbon chain. (There is an excellent diagram of a phospholipid at https://www.boundless.com/biology/textbooks/boundless-biology-textbook/biological-macromolecules-3/lipids-55/phospholipids-300-11433/) 

I would like a set of phospholipid models that can be put together - a sphere for the head and sticks for the tails - in such a way that they can be assembled into a sheet of connected phospholipids. By inverting one of these sheets and connecting it to another non-inverted sheet, the models can be assembled into a phospholipid bilayer. Further, I would like to insert into this bilayer model other objects representing proteins that embed themselves into actual phospholipid bilayers. An excellent visual representation of what I have in mind can be found in the 14th cell of the slide presentation at http://slideplayer.com/slide/9661909/.

My goal is to have a set of 3D-printable pieces that a blind student could assemble to represent a 3-dimensional model of a phospholipid bilayer so as to convey the concepts a sighted person understands when looking at some of the images I've linked.

[Elliot Krause]

Michael, thanks for all the information. I'm going to work on this, and should have it done by April at the latest. If you have any questions, please send me an email at sekr...@live.unc.edu

[Deborah Thompson]

This sounds fabulous.