  We study the effect of permeabilizing electric fields applied to two
different types of giant unilamellar vesicles, the first formed from EggPC
lipids and the second formed from DOPC lipids. Experiments on vesicles of both
lipid types show a decrease in vesicle radius which is interpreted as being due
to lipid loss during the permeabilization process. We show that the decrease in
size can be qualitatively explained as a loss of lipid area which is
proportional to the area of the vesicle which is permeabilized. Three possible
mechanisms responsible for lipid loss were directly observed: pore formation,
vesicle formation and tubule formation.
