Unlike bacteria, eukaryotic cells contain membrane-bound structures that compartmentalize the cell into separate spaces that carry out different jobs. How this architecture evolved is hotly debated.

Animal and plant cells can be visualised using a model. Find out how to make them with Bitesize. For students between the ages of 11 and 14.

Membrane tension may change in various parts of the same cell, in moving cells, and due to compositional variations between the plasma membrane and the substrate surface 10.