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An early peak in ion channel research

Nature Physics volume 14, page 105 (2018)Cite this article

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To the Editor —

The recent experimental demonstration of non-equilibrium switching kinetics in the transitions between clockwise and counterclockwise rotation of the bacterial flagellar motor by Wang et al.1 is an elegant illustration of how theoretical results in non-equilibrium thermodynamics can lead to practical biological insight. Citing theoretical work by Tu from 20082, they note that the presence of peaked waiting time distributions between switching events is incompatible with detailed balance in the underlying kinetics, showing that the switching process is actively driven by some dissipative process.

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References

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  1. Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 752 36, Sweden

    Martin Lindén

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  1. Martin Lindén
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Correspondence to Martin Lindén.

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Lindén, M. An early peak in ion channel research. Nature Phys 14, 105 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4347

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