Cells Use Bioelectric Signals to Coordinate Collective Expulsion of Unhealthy Cells

Even the protective layers of cells that compose your skin and line your organs use electrical signals to make decisions, according to recent research.

Results published in Nature show that cells use bioelectricity to coordinate a complex collective behavior called extrusion, a vital process that ejects sick or struggling individual cells from tissue to maintain health.

The discovery that tissues use electricity to expel unhealthy cells is part of a surge of renewed interest in the currents flowing through our bodies.

We're used to thinking of the brain as an electric organ. The rest of the body? Not so much. But it would be a mistake to dismiss your other tissues as dumb hunks of electrically inert flesh.