Ion Channel Simulation (IMAGE)

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Ion Channel Simulation

Caption

In this simulation, a biological membrane (gray) with an ion channel (center) is immersed in a solution of water and ions. This cross section of a simulation "box" shows the electric potential, the externally supplied "force" that drives ions through the channel. A dazzling pattern emerges in this potential due to the presence of the channel -- the colors show the lines of equal potential. The slowly decaying nature of this pattern in space makes simulations difficult. The golden aspect ratio -- the chosen ratio of height to width of this box -- allows for small simulations to effectively capture the effect of the large spatial dimensions of the experiment.

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NIST

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