A newly developed microscope is providing scientists with a greatly enhanced tool to study how neurological disorders such as epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease affect neuron communication. The microscope is optimized to perform ...
Optics & Photonics
Nov 29, 2017
0
166
An international team of researchers has determined the 3-D structure of channelrhodopsin 2, a membrane protein widely used in optogenetics to control nerve cells with light. Optogenetics is a relatively new technique that ...
Biotechnology
Nov 28, 2017
0
2
Some genetic mutations can cause a virus to flourish. Others make the virus wither away, unable to function normally and reproduce. Yet other genetic mutations only show their hand under certain conditions.
Biochemistry
Mar 31, 2017
0
107
Researchers at the University of Alberta have developed a new method of controlling biology at the cellular level using light.
Biochemistry
Mar 15, 2017
0
73
As we push the limits of agriculture to feed more people in a warmer world, we do not understand how plants sense temperature.
Biotechnology
Oct 27, 2016
0
10
Plants, bacteria and fungi react to light with light-sensitive proteins. Scientists from the University of Gothenburg and their Finnish colleagues from University of Jyväskylä have now determined the inner workings of one ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 15, 2016
0
12
Researchers in Bochum have utilised light-sensitive proteins from nerve cells of the eye – so-called melanopsins – to switch on specific signalling pathways in brain cells with high temporal precision. Depending on what ...
Biotechnology
Apr 8, 2016
0
5
Understanding how fish "see" is helping a team of international scientists increase their knowledge of the Great Barrier Reef's biodiversity.
Plants & Animals
Nov 24, 2015
0
30
Optogenetics techniques, which allow scientists to map and control nerve cells using light stimulation, are being used to study neural circuits in the brain with unprecedented precision. This revolutionary technology relies ...
Biochemistry
Jul 6, 2015
0
17
The octopus has a unique ability. It can change the color, pattern and even texture of its skin not only for purposes of camouflage but also as a means of communication. The most intelligent, most mobile and largest of all ...
Plants & Animals
May 20, 2015
0
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