A picosiemens is a very small unit of electrical conductance, representing one trillionth of a siemens. It quantifies how easily a tiny electrical current can flow through a highly resistive medium. Electrophysiologists frequently use picosiemens to measure the conductance of single ion channels in cell membranes during patch-clamp experiments.
Heard on the job
The patch clamp recorded single-channel conductances of around fifty picosiemens.