We report on an observation that the orien- tation of cell division is directed by small, applied electric fields (EFs). Cultured human corneal epithelial cells were exposed to a direct-current EF of physiological magnitude. Cells divided while attached to the culture dish, and most did so with a cleavage plane perpendicular to the EF vector. There are many instances in which cell divisions in vivo occur in the presence of direct-current physiological EF, for example, during embryonic morphogenesis, neuronal and epithelial differentiation, wound healing, or tumor formation. Endoge- nous physiological EFs may play important roles in some or all of thesc processes by regulating the axis of cell division and, hence, the positioning of daughter cells.
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