The cut-open oocyte Vaseline gap (COVG) voltage-clamp technique, a relatively recent addition to theelectrophysiologist’s armamentarium, was specificallydeveloped by Drs. Stefani and Bezanilla (Bezanillaet al.1991) to achieve low-noise recordings of themembrane ofXenopus laevisoocytes with fast clampspeed and, thus, optimize the most popular transientexpression system to reveal the activity voltage-dependent proteins previously difficult to resolve byalternative methods. The high degree of specializationof this technique is complemented by its flexibility: inaddition  to  oocyte  perfusion,  COVG  can  beencombined  with  optical  measurements  (voltage-clamp fluorometry and spectroscopy) and flash pho-tolysisfor the instantaneous release of intracellular-caged  compounds,  expanding  its  use  beyondelectrophysiology.