## 1 Introduction
Induced chemical variations, such as peroxidation, deform lipid tails (Figure 1) and therefore increase the permeability of the plasma membrane, which reinforces the previously described effect of EP [14; 22; 23; 24]. Furthermore, electrical modulation also impacts the function of membrane proteins, like voltage-gated ion channels (VGICs). These transmembrane proteins respond to changes in transmembrane voltage with rearrangement of their conformation, which causes either opening or closure of the pore. As VGICs are sensitive to changes in transmembrane voltage, pulses induced by EP that range up to several hundreds of millivolts perturb their function [25]. Figure 1: Schematic visualization of molecular mechanism in which plasma membrane permeability is changed due to electric stimulus, allowing genes to be transferred to the intracellular environment. A change of the physiological voltage (**A**) induces the formation of indentation and then transient hydrophobic pores, the diameter of which ranges from 2 to several nanometers (**B**). Hydrophobic pores are transmutable to hydrophilic ones by reorienting polar headgroups of lipids towards water molecules. In this way, plasmid DNA can enter the intracellular environment (**C**). The electric stimulus also influences single membrane lipids properties by inducing chemical variations, such as peroxidation, deforming lipid tails, and therefore increasing the permeability of the plasma membrane (**D–F**) [10; 12; 25]. Electroporation finds its application not only in cellular transport. In contradistinction to RE, in which the eventual cell's destruction comes from its incapacity to restore the previous plasma membrane structure, IRE intentionally leads to cell death and is used, for example, in tumor ablation [9; 26; 27; 28; 29]. Understanding the mechanism that underlays the phenomenon of EP allows the comprehension of the significance of its employment in gene delivery, therapy, and transfection. The described biotechnological process has changed the world of medicine inter alia by initiating electrochemotherapy (ECT) and gene electrotransfer (GET), the application of which has become more and more extensive and constitutes a promising perspective for future therapies. When it comes to the first term, ECT describes the supply of medicine to the cell's cytoplasm by using electric impulses. This method allows for reducing the concentration of administered cytostatics because an additional way of its transport is created [30; 31; 32; 33; 34]. On the other hand, GET is a method that utilizes electric pulses to increase permeation through plasma membranes; as a result, some molecules can be placed inside a cell's cytoplasm. The spectrum of particles that can be used is remarkably broad--for instance--plasmid DNA (pDNA), RNA, inhibitors, antibodies, or antitumor drugs [35]. Considering only plasmid DNA molecules--there are a lot of possible modifications because pDNA molecules might be liberally recombined and, for this reason, may contain various therapeutic proteins or antigens [36]. Due to the comprehensive application of EP, this method is believed to develop some areas of medical treatment, such as DNA vaccines or cancer medication [37; 38]. The juxtaposition of GET and ECT allows us to find significant differences between those two terms. While GET designates the combination of gene transfer and EP, ECT is the name of the procedure when EP is combined with the injection of cytotoxic drugs, therefore enhancing their diffusion. All the practical applications of the wide potential of EP will be discussed. Electroporation has shown some significant assets in the case of gene delivery. Indeed, it evinces some superiority in comparison to other gene-delivery methods.