Medical: Optogenetics

About Medical: Optogenetics

Alongside the growth of DNA sequencing, optogenetics is growing complimentary to this. Laser light is being used to the target cells within the body that have been genetically altered to react and cause neuron excitation or inhibition. Using this combination of neuron targeting, protein selection, genetic modification, and selective highly focused light, great benefits over previous neuron manipulation techniques, which relied on electrical stimulation, can be achieved. This technique of optogenetics is a growing area of scientific research that controls and studies the behavior of neurons by the illumination with light. To provide illumination, the use of lasers has a number of benefits:

 

• Relatively high power that allows beam splitting to form arrays, offering control over the location of illumination in the living brain
• Wavelength specific and so can be paired with individual proteins
• Beams can be easily controlled through fibers to deliver the excitation to the desired area
• Lasers can be modulated