An account of the path to realizing tools for controlling brain circuits with light
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The optogenetic toolset is composed of genetically encoded molecules that, when targeted to specific neurons in the brain, enable the electrical activity of those neurons to be driven or silenced by light. When these opsins are expressed in the lipid
Eleanor Simpson on how dopamine helps rats learn and may lead humans to addiction
Meet some of the finalists of this year's Best Places to Work in Academia survey. Read the full story. [gallery]
Studying the earliest events in visual development, Carla Shatz has learned the importance of looking at one’s data with open eyes—and an open mind.
Member, Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington. Age: 38
This animation illustrates optogenetics—a radical new technology for controlling brain activity with light. Ed Boyden, the co-inventor of this technology, is a professor at the MIT Media Lab and at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, where he continues to develop new technologies for controlling brain activity.
Researchers map pigments in early bird fossils using preserved metallic residues.
Evidence that large dinosaurs had body temperatures similar to modern-day mammals suggests they were either endothermic or extremely good at conserving body heat.
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