Every cell has a voltage. We track what science is learning about it.

Bioelectricity is the study of the electrical signals that living things produce and respond to. That covers nerve impulses and heartbeats, but also the voltage gradients that guide how embryos form, how wounds close, how bacteria coordinate, and how some animals regrow lost limbs.

This research is spread across journals in developmental biology, neuroscience, oncology, materials science and microbiology, so it is hard to see the whole picture. Bioelectric News collects the important results in one place and keeps a running assessment of where each field stands.

A research scout reviews journals, preprint servers, trial registries and institutional press releases every day. Candidate stories are checked against their primary source, summarized in plain language, and tagged with fields, evidence level and significance. Every entry links to the original paper or announcement.

Summaries describe what a study actually showed, including its limits. A result in cells or animals is never described as a cure, and press-release claims are checked against the paper.

Incremental

A solid but incremental result: a replication, a refinement of a method, or a small study.

Notable

Worth knowing about: a new finding or tool within an existing line of research.

Significant

Changes what is possible or plausible in a field, such as a new mechanism, a new model system, or a meaningful clinical signal.

Major

A result that researchers across the field will cite and build on, or a pivotal trial or regulatory decision.

Field-defining

Rare. Reframes the science or opens a new field. A few per decade.

Each entry states what kind of system the result comes from, because a finding in a dish and a finding in patients are different claims.

• Computational / in silico
• Cells, tissues or synthetic systems
• Animal model
• Human participants
• Field / environmental samples
• Not applicable

1Early research

Mechanisms are still being established. Most work is basic science.

2Emerging

Reproducible results across labs, with first attempts at application.

3Translational

Active development toward products or therapies, with early human data in some areas.

4In the clinic

Approved devices or therapies exist and are in use, alongside ongoing trials.

5Established

Textbook science and routine practice.

Field overviews are reviewed and dated. See the fields for each one.

If an entry misstates a finding, it is corrected and the correction is noted at the end of the entry. Retracted papers are marked as retracted rather than silently removed.