The ion channel field has been a bit charged up lately, thanks largely to an impressive series of crystalline structures published by Rod MacKinnon's group at Rockefeller University.[1-5] While nearly all these structures have been the subjects of highly cited papers, this month's Hot papers[1,2] were the subject of controversy right from the start. These papers were scrutinized because they contradicted previous findings, challenging the prevailing model for channel gating. Yet many say they have also performed a valuable service, pointing researchers to new ways of thinking. "They really shook things up," says Eduardo Perozo, an ion channel researcher at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.