2
$\begingroup$

I wonder why is it called plasma membrane - what's the biological meaning of the word 'plasma'?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Plasma comes from the greek word which means something created or forged $\endgroup$
    – WYSIWYG
    Commented Dec 26, 2014 at 13:40

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1
$\begingroup$

I thought it was a no-brainer, apparently it's more of a historical journey into the origins of Botany. But I have a hypothesis: During the debate of whether the cell or the fluid within it was the origin of life, that fluid was called 'protoplasm' - first formed, i.e. it's the origin of life. The plasma membrane, then, is simply that which surrounds the 'plasma' - the protoplasm.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ If you wanted the etymology of the word, would better have gone to english.stackexchange.com. Also, note that in etymology, there is a large disparity between what hypothesis sounds logical to a layperson and what hypothesis is true. $\endgroup$
    – rumtscho
    Commented Dec 26, 2014 at 21:48

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .