Recently there’s increasing study and focus on a remarkable approach to manipulating the activity of our brain. Scientists believe it has potential to combat psychiatric disorders like depression, narcolepsy, Parkinson’s and many others. And its source comes from an unlikely place: pond scum.
Let me back up. Two organisms, a single-celled algae and an Archeabacterium have proteins that respond to blue and yellow light. Scientists inserted the genes from these organisms into specific mouse brain cells . During initial experiments in 2007 scientists at Stanford University inserted very a fine fiber optic--50 micrometers in diameter--into specific cells in the right motor cortex of these mice. Then they flipped on a blue light. Suddenly the mouse started manically running in counter-clockwise circles. When they turned the light off, the mouse immediately stopped. [More]"
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