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Optogenetics: A Light Switch for Neurons

By Edward S. Boyden | July 1, 2011

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. Video courtesy of MIT TechTV.

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Tags: bacteriorhodopsin, channelrhodopsin, halorhodopsin, membrane proteins, neuroscience, opsins, optogenetics, rhodopsin, techniques

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