ABSTRACT
Neher and Sakmann rst reported single-channel patch-clamp recordings in the late 1970s (Neher and Sakmann, 1976; Neher et al., 1978). Since the publication of these and the seminal papers of Hamill et al. (1981) and Colquhoun and Hawkes (1981, 1982), our understanding of ion channels as molecular machines has
increased dramatically, but, although automatic patch clamps and microfabricated and polydimethylsiloxane polymer (PDMS)–based pipette-free systems (Fertig et al., 2002; Klemic et al., 2002) are now available, the essential tools of single-channel recording and analysis have not changed dramatically.
