Question

Phospholipid bilayer with equal amounts of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids displays a specific permeability to glucose. what effect will increasing the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in the bilayer have on the membrane's permeability to glucose

Answer 1

Increasing unsaturated fatty acids in the phospholipid bilayer would increase the permeability of glucose. This is due to the kinks that are on unsaturated fatty acids that would cause the membrane to shift and move more than if it were to have saturated fatty acids which are more stable and make the membrane less permeable.