In order to understand electricity and its many properties, it is necessary to understand the basic concepts of electricity. Electricity may be addressed as the transfer of free electrons, which have been liberated from the outer shell of the atom and are free to move in currents through conductors, materials rich in supply of liberated electrons which allows for easy transfer, or insulators, materials with few liberated electrons which does not allow for easy transfer (SPH3). However, from where do such electrons originate? The electrical structure of matter provides for the explanation: matter consists of atoms, which consist of electrons (negative charge), protons (positive charge), and neutrons (no charge). The atom contains a nucleus of protons and neutrons, held together by strong force, and orbitals enclosing the nucleus, where electrons are positioned and are attracted by pulls from the nucleus, but are not stationary and may not be predicted in location (SPH3). Electrons may be removed, which results in a positively charged atom, or electrons may be added, resulting in a negative charge. By the Law of Electrostatics, it is known that like charges repel, where unlike charges attract and neutral objects are attracted to any charged material (SPH3). Electrons may be removed and added to the outermost orbital of an atom through pulls of other atoms or energy which overcome the pull of attraction by the nucleus. Electrons which are free may move and participate in generation of electric charge, where the electrons interact with one another, transferring energy like particles in a longitudinal wave, where the particles vibrate parallel to direction of transmission.

         The electric charge created by liberated electrons may be utilized to power circuits which may be governed by AC current, or alternating current which is a current which constantly reverses in direction, or DC current, also known as direct current, a current flowing in the same direction at all times (SPH3). Current produces an electric field, or the region in space within which electrical force operates, which may be of attractive or repulsive electric fields. In an electrical circuit, current or electricity, may be supplied by a power source (battery, generator, et cetera). Circuits generally consist of such a power source; a load, or a device to which liberated electrons are traveling to provide work; connecting wires which provide a pathway for electrons; a controller or switch or open and close the circuit; and some may possess a rheostat, which controls the amount of energy in the circuit, much like a dimmer switch (SPH3).

         Although the aforementioned is general in concept, it is through similar terms that the living organism may be observed and explained. A circuit in zoological specimen may be such that a DC current is produced by cells in the brain and allowed to travel by special switches through the nerves and muscles which act as connecting wires to the load, or area of concentration, such as appendages, optical apparatus, or cardiovascular system, in order for a given task to be completed. It is known that several operations in zoological organisms are based upon electricity, generated by current flow in nerves and muscles, which produces an electromagnetic field, and allows for locomotion, development, growth, digestion, reproduction, et cetera. Electric activity may be attributed to operations of the brain and electrical impulses in nerves, however, it may also be observed as part of tissue (wounded or otherwise), bone matrix, internal organs, which may be specifically designed for the production and use of electric charge, and the eye (Halsey2, 163).

         Research from the late 1980s provided information about the relation between bioelectricity and DNA. It was found that both synthesis of RNA (transcription) and synthesis of protein (translation) may be induced by electromagnetic fields, which can also influence adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production (including the electron transport chain) and membrane transport. (B)

         Through experiments, it has been determined that electricity is generated by skin and bone, as well as tissue, which is piezoelectric, produced when crystals are subjected to mechanical stress, resulting in the generation of electricity as in a digital clock or watch (B).

         Skin produces electricity, where wounded skin is of interest as it produces an electrical charge of positive potential which declines as the skin heals ³. It has also been observed that pulsed electric fields speed the healing of skin and bones, where some animals may have the ability to reproduce appendages or digits, such as an amphibian regrowing a lost leg or even a young human to somewhat regrow a severed finger (O) . However, skin may also experience a lowered electrical resistence during physical activity, as it activates the sweat gland, which lowers resistence.

         In bone, bioelectricity may control the shape of normal adult bones and effect the rate and success of the healing of broken bones (Halsey2 183). Bone growth is also dependant upon electric activity, where bone growth is mediated through piezoelectricity of the bone matrix, as discovered by Fukada and Yasuda.

         Bone is piezoelectric, but as well, possesses other electric properties, being pyroelectric, where electric charges are produced on the surface of the bone when it is heated (all pyroelectric materials are piezoelectric but not vice versa). Bone is also ferroelectric, possessing spontaneous electric dipole movement, which produces growth alterations. (Becker)

         A third electrical property of bone matrix is that it is a biphasic, or two part, semiconductor diode which conducts electric current in one direction only as a positive-negative junction (PN-junction), which also produces light, classifying it as a light-emitting diode (LED)(B). The diode consists of collagen, a negative-type (N-type) semiconductor, and apatite, a positive-type (P-type) semiconductor. Collagen is piezoelectric where apatite is not and when the two semiconductors form the PN-junction, current travels from the collagen to the apatite only (B). This piezoelectricity switches polarity by signals from the collagen with every stress-and-release: the strength of the signals indicate to bone cells how strong stress is and the polarity indicates direction. For example, osteogenic cells which form bone have demonstrated negative potential and would be stimulated to grow more bone, where those of positive potential would stop production and wait until required. Essentially, stress is converted into electric signals which transfer details about the stress to cells to produce the correct bodily response (B).

         Bone also produces light, which results from energy produce as the current travels through the semiconductor diode from collagen to apatite (known as "forward bias"). However, bone requires light from an outside source before releasing its own light, also known as biofluorescence. The light produced by bone is also invisible to the human eye, as it is infrared (B).

         In discussing bioelectricity, one major application is focused on the brain and neural system overall, as electricity flows through the nerves to produce movements or other work in a body and there is much activity of electricity in brain cells.

         Present in the homo sapiens brain are pyramidal cells which act as electro-crystal cells in extra-cellular tissue fluids that respond to light pulses which change the orientation of every atom and molecule within the body. Biogravitational encoded switches found in the brain allow for the release of current-inducing ions which produces a micro-amperage electromagnetic field to activated the pyramidal cells, which become piezoelectric oscillators and produce light pulses and energy (B).

         Electrical impulses from the brain carry through the body through the use of nerves, which also allows for the production of electromagnetic fields and polarity, which is dependant on the travel direction of nerve impulses: sensory nerves are distally positive in charge, where motor nerves are distally negative. A complex electrical field results from the anatomy of the central nervous system, as was discovered in experiments with salamanders: areas of positive charge on the skin surface were found over the locations of the brain, spinal cord, and brachial, where negative charge was observed where nerves proceeded away from the spinal cord (Becker). It was derived that the salamander had a positive dipole at its head and a negative dipole at its tail.

         Electricity is also involved in sight and the brain: in the eye, the retina is a layer of light-sensitive receptor cells which cover the back of the eye. There are rod cells for black-and-white vision and cone cells for colour vision. Light bleaches the pigment rhodopsin in the retina which allows the cells to translate light energy into electric signals, which travels through the optic nerve to the brain at approximately 483.0 kilometres per hour (300.0 miles per hour), allowing an organism to conceive images in the brain, the activity done within two-thousands of a second (SPH2).

         Electromagnetic fields also may account for several impacts on both the neural and cardiovascular systems: changes in electrical activity may cause enzyme increase or decrease, alterations in behaviour and blood pressure, increase or decrease in heart rate, and affects in the resistence to infections (Becker).

         Although all living organisms employ bioelectricity to sustain internal processes for survival, varying species of fish possess an additive function where they make use of electric organs for external survival techniques. Such fish are classified as "Electric Fish", who are capable of generating high voltage electric discharges that are complex and powerful enough to kill small amphibians and fish and to stun large mammals (Thain 181). The electric discharges are produced by electrocytes or electroplates, modified muscle cells organized as a series of units, each as its own battery, in the electric organs of the fish. The muscles do not contract like other muscles and energy is converted into electric charge instead of movement; if discharged simultaneously, a high-voltage, stunning current may be produced and travel through the water- this is one type of electric current. The second type of electric current may be produced as low-voltage if only part of the electricity is discharged (Chinery 144). 

         Electric organs may be observed in several types of fish, both freshwater and seawater, used for navigation, defense, offense, and mate location. Marine specimens generally produce discharges of lower voltage than their freshwater counterparts as salt water conducts electric current most efficiently than fresh water, as lower voltage is required to push current through (Chinery 144). The electric eel, electric ray, electric catfish, skates, and other rays are examples of such electric fish. The electric eel is capable of generating a 550.0 Volt discharge to kill or stun other organisms and employs the aid of smaller discharges to navigate through the muddy water of the Amazon basin (Chinery 144). Skates and rays possess batteries in their tail and produce low voltages, however the function of the discharges is unknown. Several rays may also have a large battery on each side of the head used for feeding and defense with a large current up to 200.0 Volts: by wrapping its body around the selected prey, the ray electrocutes the organism and kills it (Chinery 144).

         However, the Nile fish uses electricity in a different manner: to navigate in muddy water, the fish produces a weak electric field around its body, generated in the tail which is sensitive to change (Chinery 144). If it swims near an object, like a rock, the fish detects the change in the electric field and avoids the object.  This mechanism is known as electrolocation, where electromagnetic location is the detection of an object by the distortion it imposes on the Earth’s electromagnetic field (Thain 180). Combined, electrolocation and electromagnetic location are known as an electromagnetism sense, a mechanism used by several fish and invertebrates for safety and orientation, some species of which may alter to the fields in order to prevent interference with other specimens, as well as a means of communication (Thain 182). 

         Electroreceptors may also be found in several, weakly electrical teleost fish: it is a form of receptor cell which enables the detection of electrical discharge. The electroreceptors may be found in an ampullary organ that which detects tonic (steady) electrical discharges, or in a tuberous organ in order to detect phosic (changing) electrical discharges (Thain 23, 554). In the instance of shark species, there is present within the head the Ampullae of Lorenzini, jelly-filled tubes open at the surface, where the deeper part of the ampullae consist of several sensory cell, responsive to electrical gradient as produced by potential prey camouflaged on the sea-bottom (Thain 23). 

         The origin of electricity as found in living organisms is still a detail of uncertainty for which there are several theories. Four such theories include, but are not limited to, the Diffusion Theory, the Membrane Theory, the Oxidation Theory, and the Phase-Boundary Theory (Halsey2 163).

         The Diffusion Theory states that chloride from sodium chloride (NaCl) in water found in the body may move at a faster rate than its sodium counterpart, which provides for a negative charge (Halsey 163). The Membrane Theory claims that ions are different charge are separated by a membrane which may possess selective pores, permeable to only one type of ion (Halsey3 163). The Oxidation Theory challenges the other two theories by focusing on the loss of electrons as ferrous changes into a ferric ion, which produces a positive charge (Halsey2 163).

         The smallest potentials found within the body may be observed in the brain, which may be as low as a five millionth of a volt. The largest potentials may be found as the shocks generated by the electric eel, which may reach up to 500.0 Volts or greater, which may be the effect of a phase-boundary potential by the mass of C₇H₁₆ClNo₂ in the electric organ (Halsey2 163).

         Electricity maintains a steady role within present day society, the power source for many machines used in daily life, however living organisms may be seen as a machine- a different form, however a machine in the sense that a body is composed of electricity, circuits, and other basic concepts used in non-living machines. The electricity found within living bodies, zoological and botanical, is known as bioelectricity, a electromagnetic phenomena possessing a vital role in survival, whether the use of the electricity is internal (neural system and mechanics) or external (defense and navigation). Such a system may, perhaps, provide a connection between living organisms and the electromagnetic fields of the Earth and environment, where changes in the Earth’s field may be reflected in the alteration of functions in organisms. However, the electromagnetic fields of the planet are constantly subjected to pressures by artificial fields produced by homo sapiens which account for sources of electromagnetic radiation with frequencies never before in existence. Such changes may pose serious health risks, as living organisms may receive information through electromagnetic fields, which may lead to physiological and behavioral deviation (Becker).