in America, Dr Keynes and Eduardo Rojas inBritain--managed to measure the tiny current that does flow for a fractionof a millisecond under these conditions. They called this the gatingcurrent. It flows when, under the influence of a voltage across themembrane, charged molecular plugs break away to unblock the channels.Research today concentrates on matching what is known of the molecularstructure of the channels, with ever finer readings of their electricalbehaviour, to discover how and why the channels open and close. Thiscontinues the escape from "biological generalisations", in favour of DrHodgkin's and Dr Huxley's approach....