teamanandtech.org

Contributed by Sergio Perez Conesa All our thoughts, movements, and heartbeats are governed by electrical signals in our bodies. These electrical signals are nothing but charged particles, called ions, crossing our cells’ membranes.  The cell membrane is the barrier that marks the inside and the outside of the cell. It is formed by oil-like molecules known as lipids and is mostly an electrical insulator. Nevertheless, conduction can happen because ions are able to cross the membrane through specific pore-like proteins known as ion channels. Ion channels control the flow of electrical signals, acting as switches that respond to stimuli such as pressure, voltage, or specific molecules like neurotransmitters. Defects in ion channels can have severe consequences such as heart arrhythmias or epilepsy. This makes ion channels one of the main targets of pharmaceutical research.  The cell membrane was once thought to be simply a non-interacting environment, an oily solvent...

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