Interactions between reaction-diffusion systems and restricted host environments are a subject of widespread interest. In this work the behaviour of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction was investigated in lamellar phases formed by phospholipid bilayers with relevance for biological systems. The influence of the reactive medium on the structure of the lipid matrix and, in turn, the influence of the matrix on the dynamical evolution of chemical patterns, were studied by small angle scattering. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.