In our daily lives, lipids provide the delicious richness in ice cream, give carrots their color, lubricate our car engines, and help clean our clothes. They help sea otters’ fur repel water and give a waxy sheen to many plant leaves. As a group, lipids have many different functions and uses in living cells and organisms, from storing energy to regulating metabolism, signaling hormones, and providing the structure of cell membranes. What do butter, beeswax, and testosterone have in common? They’re all lipids, a type of compound produced by plants and animals that includes fats and oils as well as waxes and steroids.
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