Submitted by Chairman_Mittens t3_y96dfg in askscience
mohelgamal t1_it5gpiq wrote
>Isn't a single cell essentially the same basic structure as a bacteria, just joined together with other cells? Or am I actually killing millions of cells every time I rinse, but they regrow each time?
No there are a lot of different types of cells, bacteria has much simpler cell walls so alcohol dissolves them easily.
But our skin and mucous membranes have evolved specifically to resist the outside environment, through the use of condensed keratin at the surface, that forms a very touch layer, still if you put your hand in concentrated alcohol long enough it will damage your skin. mucous membranes are similar to skin except with less dry keratin on the outside.
Internally, the cells would be far more vulnerable, think of what a drop of alcohol do to your eye or to an open wound. it would be bad. alcohol injection is used sometimes when you need to damage certain tissues on purpose, such as in nerve ablation procedure.
CrateDane t1_it6m4w8 wrote
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> No there are a lot of different types of cells, bacteria has much simpler cell walls so alcohol dissolves them easily.
Human cells do not even have cell walls, unlike bacteria.
If you're thinking of the cell membrane, then I wouldn't say the bacterial membrane is any simpler. The lipids used are slightly different, but that's not a question of simplicity or complexity. And for example Gram negative bacteria would have two membranes, which is more complex than the single membrane of human cells (though we have additional membranes around some organelles).
In any case, alcohol would damage our cells just as easily as bacterial cells. If they were exposed to the same concentration.
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