Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026

AC Electrokinetic Phenomena Generated by Microelectrode Structures
Published on: July 28, 2008
Complex life forms may arise from electrical processes
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA. hfelson1@msn.com
Abstract:
There is still not an appealing and testable model to explain how single-celled organisms, usually following fusion of male and female gametes, proceed to grow and evolve into multi-cellular, complexly differentiated systems, a particular species following virtually an invariant and unique growth pattern. An intrinsic electrical oscillator, resembling the cardiac pacemaker, may explain the process. Highly auto-correlated, it could live independently of ordinary thermodynamic processes which mandate increasing disorder, and could coordinate growth and differentiation of organ anlage.
Related Concept Videos
Characteristics of Life
Electrical Synapses
Gap junctions allow the current to pass directly from one cell to the next. In contrast, in the chemical synapse, the neurotransmitters carry the information through the synaptic cleft from one neuron to the next. They consist of two...
Neural Circuits
Neuronal pools are collections of nerve cells with similar functions and interact through chemical and electrical signals. These pools include both interneurons (the central neural circuit nodes that...
Origin of Cellular Life
Electric Circuit Elements
The most...
Action Potential: Phases of Stimulation
Resting Phase:
In this phase, the cell's membrane is at its resting potential, typically around -70 millivolts (mV) for neurons. Inside the cell, there is a higher concentration of potassium ions (K+) and a lower concentration of sodium ions (Na+). Voltage-gated sodium channels are closed, and...

