Scientists have discovered a novel ion channel protein that can be controlled by light, in a species of terrestrial alga. These channels respond to the shorter indigo blue wavelength of light, ...

Nearly a decade ago, the era of optogenetics was ushered in with the development of channelrhodopsins, light-activated ion channels that can, with the flick of a switch, instantaneously turn on ...

HHMI scientists develop new tool to silence neurons with an unprecedented level of control. Nearly a decade ago, the era of optogenetics was ushered in with the development of channelrhodopsins, light ...

Channelrhodopsins such as channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) can drive spiking with millisecond precision in a wide variety of cells, tissues and animal species. However, several properties of this protein ...

A recently discovered family of natural anion channelrhodopsins (ACRs) have the highest conductance among channelrhodopsins and exhibit exclusive anion selectivity, which make them efficient ...

The Wiley Prize jury is honouring the three researchers for their discovery of channelrhodopsins, a family of light-activated ion channels. The use of these proteins has opened up new opportunities ...

Networked nerve cells are the control center of organisms. In a nematode, 300 nerve cells are sufficient to initiate complex behavior. To understand the properties of the networks, researchers switch ...

Two decades after an unusually severe case of the eye condition retinitis pigmentosa robbed a French man of his vision, an experimental gene therapy seems to have brought it part of the way back. In ...

Several organisms possess "ion channels" (gateways that selectively allow charged particles called ions to enter the cells and are integral for cell function) called "channelrhodopsins," that can be ...

Nearly a decade ago, the era of optogenetics was ushered in with the development of channelrhodopsins, light-activated ion channels that can, with the flick of a switch, instantaneously turn on ...