  We describe a concept that has the potential to change how we think about the
underlying mechanisms of cell membrane electroporation (EP). Prior
experimental, theoretical and modeling have emphasized a single pore lifetime
as adequate for particular conditions. Here we introduce a much more complex
response: The rapid creation of many types of pore structures, of which some
are traditional transient lipidic pores (TPs), but the great majority are
complex pores (CPs) based on both lipids and other molecules or molecular
segments. At the inner leaflet of the cell plasma membrane (PM) non-lipidic
molecules come from the over-crowded cytoplasm. At the outer leaflet they
originate from the extracellular medium and extracellular matrix. Some
partially or fully insert into TPs during or shortly after TP formation, or
bind to the membrane nearby. This process is complex, leading to mostly
short-lived structures, with relatively few lasting for long times. We
speculate that the characteristic pore lifetimes range from $\sim$100 ns to
1,000 s, based on implications from experiments. The frequency-of-occurrence
probably falls off extremely rapidly with increasing lifetime, $\tau_{CP}$,
which implies that most are inaccessible to traditional experimental methods.
It also suggests that unexpected behavior can occur early in pulsing, vanishing
before post-pulse observations begin.
