Current Flow in Nerve and Mitochondria

Electrodynamics of current provide much of our technology, from telegraphs to the wired infrastructure powering the circuits of our electronic technology. Current flow is analyzed by its own rules. It cannot be analyzed one charge at a time. There are too many charges. Current flow is essential in biology. Currents are carried by electrons in mitochondria in an electron transport chain. Currents are carried by ions in nerve and muscle cells. Currents everywhere follow the rules of current flow: Kirchhoff’s current law and its generalizations. The role of electrons in generating ATP was discovered long ago. The flow of protons that generate ATP in ATPsynthase has been determined. The flow of protons and transport of electrons form circuits that should be analyzed by Kirchhoff’s law. Circuit analysis is easily applied to short systems like mitochondria that have just one internal electrical potential in the form of the Hodgkin Huxley Katz HHK equation. The HHK equation combined with classical descriptions of chemical reactions forms a computable model of cytochrome c oxidase, part of the electron transport chain. Current laws are now needed to analyze the flow of electrons and protons, as they generate ATP in mitochondria and chloroplasts.