On modeling electrostatic effects in living cells
DOI: 10.1063/PT.3.2194
Regarding the comment by Bob Eisenberg and the response by authors Eli Barkai, Yuval Garini, and Ralf Metzler (Physics Today, July 2013, page 10) in discussing electrostatic effects in living cells, I offer the following:
Eisenberg’s rejection of the use of classical, static analysis raises the question of what should be included in a model of a cell in an electrostatic field. Clearly, the field would create a potential across any cell to which it was applied. And such a potential would alter the shape of the cell, in addition to driving a (possibly minuscule) current through the cell and the surrounding fluid or cellular medium. As the cell moved, the shape and possibly the current would change.
Those effects imply much more than plain diffusion, especially if the medium containing the cell differed considerably from the cell’s own contents.
More about the Authors
John Michael Williams. (jmmwill@comcast.net) Silicon Valley Polytechnic Institute, San Jose, California.
