Scientists have revealed that invisible motion on the membranes of living cells may generate electricity, offering new insights into how cells communicate and interact with their surroundings.
Additionally, these minute amounts of electrical energy generated by cell membranes could offer potential avenues for applications involving ion transport and neuronal activity.
At the heart of the new discovery is the flexible membrane that encases each individual living cell, shielding its interior from the surrounding environment. Rather than being static, cellular membranes are constantly in motion due to the various processes occurring within them.
These tiny movements, according to researchers who published their findings in PNAS Nexus in December, produce tiny but discernible electrical effects that could have big implications for our understanding of cellular activity.
The research team behind this discovery, led by Pradeep Sharma and colleagues, employed a unique mathematical model they developed specifically for the study of this novel cellular activity, which helped them connect the observed electrical activity to fundamental processes in nature.
Fundamentally, this allowed the team to discern how the combination of processes at the cellular level corresponds to an electrical phenomenon that manifests at the membrane, even in the absence of structures normally associated with such phenomena.
The Secret Lives of Cells
At any given time, a range of processes occur within individual living cells, generating chemical reactions that help generate the energy required for their sustenance.
A primary function that occurs within cells is ATP hydrolysis, a process in which adenosine triphosphate is broken down and used as a source of power by living cells—a process that results in tiny movements along the exterior of the cellular membrane.
However, as these movements across the cell’s exterior take place, they can also produce small bursts of electrical energy through a process called flexoelectricity, where a charge is generated by the motion occurring across a material. Additionally, the presence of electrical differences across the surface of cells can be significant enough that, in some instances, voltages of up to 90 millivolts can even occur—energy levels comparable to brain functions like the transmission of signals between neurons.
Of particular interest to Sharma and his colleagues was the timing of these electrical activities, since they appeared to match the general timeframe of motion in nerve cells, which could imply that the processes in question may offer broader clues about the inner workings of electrical signals across various biological systems.
Going Against the Gradient
Also of interest to Sharma and the team was the way that cellular motion-induced electrical phenomena might offer an ideal way of accounting for the movement of ions across the cell membrane.
Although it is already understood that ions move along electrochemical pathways in cells that generally flow toward areas of lower concentration, the team’s model appears to reveal a force generated by active membrane fluctuations that helps push ions, even potentially in the opposite direction from that in which they normally travel.
This is significant, as it reveals previously unknown factors that could help govern the direction and polarity of ion transport throughout cells.
Potential Applications
The researchers say that their new model for the transport of ions across cells could also have important implications beyond single cells and may help reveal insights into the function of entire groups of cells.
Further, the new findings may also provide a physical foundation for applications across a range of areas, including materials science and the development of “intelligent” materials that function based on the electrical properties observed in living cells.
The team’s study, “Flexoelectricity and the fluctuations of (active) living cells: Implications for energy harvesting, ion transport, and neuronal activity,” appeared in PNAS Nexus on December 12, 2025.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.