Page 282 - The Miracle in the Cell Membrane

The Miracle in the Cell Membrane

survive for only short periods. Their
stability is brief, and they gradually
dissolve and merge together. 94
For example, when human red
blood cells are kept above 37 °C (nor-
mal body temperature), they begin to
deform. As a result of the phospho-
lipid compound in the cell membrane
changing, unhealthy compounds
begin to emerge. Professor Norman
Gershfield, a researcher at the
National Institute of Health in the
1980s and 1990s, discovered that it
was possible for cell membranes to
form and to protect structures under
specific conditions only and the phys-
ical and chemical conditions had to be
adjusted with the greatest sensitivi-
95
ty. It is impossible for the physical
processes active when the Earth first
formed to have produced a chemical-
ly stable cell membrane. Even if ran-
dom effects gave rise to the proper
phospholipid compound, any varia-
tion in temperature in the cell mem-
brane would ruin its structure. With
that loss, the first cell would disap-
pear.
As you see, the sensitivity of the
cell membrane invalidates any sce-

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