Fluid mosaic model

The fluid mosaic model describes a cell membrane as a fluid lipid bilayer with embedded membrane proteins. It connects a continuous barrier to a mosaic of functional components: diffusion within the membrane can coexist with selective passage across it. S. J. Singer and G. L. Nicolson presented the fluid mosaic model in Science in 1972; see Singer and Nicolson, The fluid mosaic model of the structure of cell membranes. The useful picture does not require every protein to move freely: attachments and interactions can restrict movement, as discussed in Cooper, The Cell: structure of the plasma membrane.