This allows the team to mimic the behavior of ion channels in the brain.

FORBES: MIT Scientists Develop A Chip That Mimics Brain Synapses

They concentrated on the make-up of the ion channels in the animals' cell membranes.

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Proteins are the workhorses of cells, acting as enzymes, ion channels, signalling molecules and structural elements.

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It is in this lipid membrane that the ion channels, which are made of an artificial protein called gramicidin, sit.

ECONOMIST: Medical diagnostics

Ion channels sit in a cell's outer membrane and let electrically charged atoms (ions, as they are known in chemical jargon) in and out of the cell.

ECONOMIST: Memory formation

This is a rare brain disorder that is caused by an autoimmune response which destroys the human equivalents of the ion channels that are affected in the mutant fruit fly.

ECONOMIST: Memory formation

Instead, differences in composition between warm-water and cold-water ion channels were the result of a phenomenon called RNA editing, in which special enzymes alter the structure of the RNA messenger, and thus of the final protein.

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In the brain, the signals travelling through the synapses rely on action potential, which is the electrical energy created by the difference in concentrations of charged atoms (ions) on the inside and outside of neuron, which move back and forth through ion channels.

FORBES: MIT Scientists Develop A Chip That Mimics Brain Synapses

There are currently 28 channels available over-the-air in New York City, including major networks, subchannels and specialty channels like NYCTV and iON.

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