Low frequency electrical waves in ensembles of proteinoid microspheres

Area of Science:

• Origin of life studies
• Biophysics
• Materials science

Background:

• Proteinoids, or thermal proteins, are polymers formed by heating amino acids.
• Proteinoid microspheres are aggregation structures with reported electrical oscillations.
• Understanding primitive electrical activity is key to abiogenesis research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the electrical activity of proteinoid microspheres.
• To determine if external electric fields can modulate this activity.
• To explore the potential of proteinoids as models for early biological electrical phenomena.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of proteinoids from L-glutamic acid and L-aspartic acid.
• Formation of proteinoid microspheres.
• Recording electrical activity using differential electrodes, analogous to EEG.
• Applying external electric fields of varying frequencies and intensities.

Main Results:

• Proteinoid microsphere ensembles generate electrical potential spikes.
• Average spike duration is 26 minutes with an amplitude of 1 mV.
• Spikes often occur in trains of two.
• Electrical activity is tunable by external electric field stimulation.

Conclusions:

• Proteinoid microspheres display measurable and tunable electrical activity.
• This system serves as a potential model for micro-level electrical signaling in early life.
• External electric fields can influence and control the electrical behavior of these structures.