Intrinsic Membrane Noise in Living Cells and Its Coupling to External Fields

Abstract

The phosopholipid bilayer membranes surrounding the living cells, play a crucial part in cell signaling and fundamental physiological processes responsible for sustaining life. The study reports physical rationale and some interesting experimental findings on the existence of intrinsic membrane noise (distinct from well-known 1/f and Johnson noise) and coupling of living cell membranes with ambient electromagnetic fields in the Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) regime. The manifestation of these interactions is reported to be seen in the form of amplification of ambient electromagnetic fields by cell membranes and resulting currents, as detected with the help of sensitive pico-ampere and femto-ampere amplifier instrumentation. An experimental technique is introduced to measure such minuscule biological signals existent in living cells.