Cell response to electric field (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, April 05, 2014, 00:09 (3684 days ago) @ BBella

Bbella's presentaton of an article on cells and electric fields is now supported by new research, and the authors even bring in the concept of light comunication between cells, something I rememer Bbella also presenting:-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3689572/-"This Addendum summarizes the current state of knowledge in developmental bioelectricity, proposes three possible interpretations of the bioelectric code that functionally maps physiological states to anatomical outcomes, and highlights the biggest open questions in this field. We also suggest a speculative hypothesis at the intersection of cognitive science and developmental biology: that bioelectrical signaling among non-excitable cells coupled by gap junctions simulates neural network-like dynamics, and underlies the information processing functions required by complex pattern formation in vivo. Understanding and learning to control the information stored in physiological networks will have transformative implications for developmental biology, regenerative medicine and synthetic bioengineering."-"One of the most exciting future lines of research concerns the development of chemical strategies for conferring light sensitivity to native ion channels,42,43 allowing optical control of ion flux with heretofore unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution. As these pathways become better understood, bioelectric elements will be encapsulated as modules that can be plugged into existing bioengineering frameworks, adding greatly to the power of the current set of building blocks in synthetic biology."