Paper Example on Effect of Ethanol on Beetroot Cell Membrane

Introduction

Beetroot is a cell that contains a pigment known as betacyanin that characterizes the dark purple color of the tissue. It is within the cell vacuole and always retained at this location by a permeable barrier that is selectively known as the tonoplast which is a similar structure to a cell membrane. The essay intends to examine the effect of different concentrations of ethanol on the beetroot membrane permeability (Koley & Bard 2010).

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It is important to note that when this beetroot is cut or just sliced, say for purposes of carrying out an experiment, the cells within it are also cut. This causes the pigment present to spill out. If the slices are too thin, the surface area in which they are exposed also becomes larger. This will lead to an increase in the rate of the leakage of the pigment. However, in any case, the membrane is interfered with causing a change in the lipid layer, more of the betacyanin pigment would leak through diffusion. As stated, betalaines are the red pigments contained in the beetroot that is soluble in water and found in the cell vacuoles of plant cells where they exist as internal salts.

The results of the experiment contradict what was hypothesized that as that as the concentration of ethanol increases so should be the absorbance level of the membrane. Apart from this, the experiment also indicates a varying level of absorption with only two supporting the hypothesis. There was also a difference in the results as the results from trial three showing that the distilled water had the highest absorbance level while the 40% concentration had the least. This indicated that something went wrong with the experiments. After thorough analyses of these results, it was true that the study is not entirely reliable. This could have been contributed to by factors like incorrect test tube labelling, varying concentrations, among others that possibly led to the difference in the results obtained. Also, the age of the beetroot that was used in the experiment is also a factor that cannot be understated, the temperature in which the investigation was conducted, the amount of liquid as well as incorrect blotting of the beetroot.

It should be known that by exposing any membrane, in this case, a beetroot membrane to a solvent, for example, ethanol in our case, the permeability of the membrane will be increased (Koley & Bard 2010). Therefore, it should clearly be understood at this early stage of the essay that the higher the solvent concentration, the more permeable the beetroot membrane will become. However, it should equally be admitted that if the concentration of solvent, that is ethanol in this investigation exceeds the required limit, it should be agreed that it will automatically break down the beetroot membrane. This would be up to a point where there would be no overall effect as the ethanol would penetrate to interfere and disturb the lipid contained in the membrane. Hence, the red pigments contained in the beetroot would be free to leak as the lipids would be controlling the substances that get into and exit the cell membrane. This possible damage that the ethanol can do to the cell makes the lives of the affected plants and animals to be susceptible to any danger.

It is worth noting that the effects of alcohol in the cell membranes have more significant adverse impacts for both plants and animal lives as echoed above. In any case, ethanol interferes with the cell membrane of the human cell and ultimately breaks it down, it may undeniably cause severe body damage. The presence of alcohol in the body can make it cause serious problem to one of the most critical body cells called mitochondria (Van et al., 2014). These are the cells that are responsible for carrying out respirations in the cells and are therefore very important in the body functioning. The presence of ethanol in the body leads to an increase in the levels of toxic and unwanted agents in the body that can interfere will the normal body functions as a result of the damage of the mitochondria cells (Van et al., 2014). It is worth mentioning as one of the significant effects of ethanol in the cells that the damage to the mitochondria cells is the most responsible for liver diseases that are related to alcohol (O'shea et al., 2010).

Another important note that should be taken concerning the effects of ethanol on the beetroot cells is that the cells in the brain are also highly dependent on the activities of mitochondria cells. This means that any damage to these cells by taking ethanol may affect an individual's brain cells.

Some of the recommendations on how to deal with these adverse effects of ethanol in the human cells are that people should limit and if possible stop drinking. This can be achieved by ensuring that those who drink alcohol only take it during special occasions and not always as binge drinking is hazardous. I should also note that I will take it as an exciting affair if in the future I would be able to experiment to investigate how the various types of alcohol can affect cell membrane (Koley & Bard 2010). This would include a test on wines and beers, spirits and how they impact on the cell membrane permeability. This could help to establish and know which drinks are likely to cause less harm to the human body. This will help recommend the type of alcoholic beverage to consume.

Reference List

Koley, D., & Bard, A. J. (2010). Triton X-100 concentration effects on membrane permeability of a single HeLa cell by scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). National Academy of Sciences, 107(39), 16783-16787.

O'shea, R. S., Dasarathy, S., & McCullough, A. J. (2010). Alcoholic liver disease. Hepatology, 51(1), 307-328.

Van Vliet, A. R., Verfaillie, T., & Agostinis, P. (2014). New functions of mitochondria-associated membranes in cellular signaling. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Molecular Cell Research, 1843(10), 2253-2262.