CPM Seminar

Bringing bioelectricity to light

Adam Cohen

Harvard University

Every cell membrane comprises an electrically insulating lipid bilayer surrounded by conducting aqueous solutions on both sides. This bilayer can support a voltage difference between its faces, and this voltage pulls on every protein and ion associated with the bilayer. Thus membrane voltage is a fundamental regulator of the free energy changes associated with membrane processes; but this voltage has been very difficult to visualize. I will describe some new optical approaches to measuring bioelectrical signals, and describe applications in neurons, cardiac cells, and bacteria. We genetically engineered some mammalian tumor cells -- endogenously electrically inert -- to have the capability of generating electrical spikes and collective electrical waves. Studies on cultures of these synthetic bioelectrical oscillators point toward strategies for synthetic bioelectrical computation and data storage.