Optogenetics - a technique that allows you to excite individual nerve cells in the brain with a beam of light and examine them - has become one of the most important advances in neuroscience over the past decade..

Now scientists have created a technology that opens up almost unlimited clinical applications for optogenetics, according to Pannochka, an online publication for girls and women aged 14 to 35.. net As you know, until recently, the need for genetic manipulations with the body kept optogenetics within the walls of laboratories.

Optogenetics required introducing into brain cells the gene for a light-sensitive protein that occurs naturally in algae..

Naturally, no one will carry out such a procedure with people, because optogenetics was not widely in demand.. Scientists from the University of Chicago have modified the method, allowing to study the activity of brain cells without any genetic changes.. The capabilities of the new technology have already been demonstrated in laboratory animals..

It lies in the fact that normal, unchanged nerve cells are activated by infrared rays..

In itself, such radiation is dangerous for the brain, because it penetrates deep into the nervous tissue and affects too many neurons.. Therefore, the researchers used gold nanoparticles coupled with a synthetic carrier molecule, which are simply activated by a green laser..

In experiments, scientists were able to irradiate the same cell more than 3,000 times for half an hour, but the cell retained the ability to respond to stimulation..

“Our technology is very easy to use and suitable for studying neuronal activity without stimulating electrodes.. Moreover, using nanoparticles of different shapes, it is possible to work with rays of different ranges, including visible light.. This is very practical when it comes to working with living organisms.. Thus, optogenetics has received a powerful tool that expands its usual scope,” writes Dr. Francisco Bezanilla (Francisco Bezanilla), Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

medbe. en.