Skin cells emit slow electric pulses after injury

Wounded skin cells scream with slow-motion electric pulses.

Such electric spikes are a surprise because only nerve cells were thought to communicate this way. These signals move at a snail’s pace compared to nerve impulses and can be detected at least 500 micrometers away — about the distance of 40 cells — researchers report in the March 25 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The pulsing electrical waves may help injured cells’ neighbors prepare to heal wounds.