Electroporation allows cellular introduction of large highly charged molecules such as DNA which would never passively diffuse across the hydrophobic bilayer core. This phenomenon indicates that the mechanism is the creation of nm-scale water-filled holes in the membrane. Electropores were optically imaged in lipid bilayer models like droplet interface bilayers and giant unilamellar vesicles, while addition of cytoskeletal proteins such as actin networks to the giant unilamellar vesicles seem to prevent the formation of visible electropores. Experimental evidences for actin networks in regulating the cell membrane permeability has also emerged. Although electroporation and dielectric breakdown both result from application of an electric field, the mechanisms involved are fundamentally different. In dielectric breakdown the barrier material is ionized, creating a conductive pathway. The material alteration is thus chemical in nature. In contrast, during electroporation the lipid molecules are not chemically altered but simply shift position, opening up a pore which acts as the conductive pathway through the bilayer as it is filled with water.