Loading…

Bioelectrical understanding and engineering of cell biology

The last five decades of molecular and systems biology research have provided unprecedented insights into the molecular and genetic basis of many cellular processes. Despite these insights, however, it is arguable that there is still only limited predictive understanding of cell behaviours. In parti...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Royal Society interface 2020-05, Vol.17 (166), p.20200013-20200013
Main Authors: Schofield, Zoe, Meloni, Gabriel N, Tran, Peter, Zerfass, Christian, Sena, Giovanni, Hayashi, Yoshikatsu, Grant, Murray, Contera, Sonia A, Minteer, Shelley D, Kim, Minsu, Prindle, Arthur, Rocha, Paulo, Djamgoz, Mustafa B A, Pilizota, Teuta, Unwin, Patrick R, Asally, Munehiro, Soyer, Orkun S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The last five decades of molecular and systems biology research have provided unprecedented insights into the molecular and genetic basis of many cellular processes. Despite these insights, however, it is arguable that there is still only limited predictive understanding of cell behaviours. In particular, the basis of heterogeneity in single-cell behaviour and the initiation of many different metabolic, transcriptional or mechanical responses to environmental stimuli remain largely unexplained. To go beyond the , the understanding of cell behaviours emerging from molecular genetics must be complemented with physical and physiological ones, focusing on the intracellular and extracellular conditions within and around cells. Here, we argue that such a combination of genetics, physics and physiology can be grounded on a bioelectrical conceptualization of cells. We motivate the reasoning behind such a proposal and describe examples where a bioelectrical view has been shown to, or can, provide predictive biological understanding. In addition, we discuss how this view opens up novel ways to control cell behaviours by electrical and electrochemical means, setting the stage for the emergence of bioelectrical engineering.
ISSN:1742-5689
1742-5662
DOI:10.1098/rsif.2020.0013