A potpourri of plucked patches

Abstract

HAMILL, Marty, Neher, Sakmann and Sigworth and Horn and Patlak recently described new techniques for improved recording from single ion channels in biological membranes. They also showed how to excise the membrane patch under study, so that the experimenter can manipulate the solution bathing either the cytoplasmic or the external face. These methods, described in a News and Views article by McBurney , are leading to an explosion of new knowledge. The pace can be gauged by this review of six months' progress.

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