Medical Using light to manipulate neurons

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ChR2 and halorhodopsin (NpHR) are key components in optogenetics, with ChR2 acting as a blue light activator and NpHR serving as a yellow light silencer. NpHR, derived from Natronobacterium pharaonis, functions by pumping chloride ions into cells, which aids ATP synthesis. When used in neurons, NpHR hyperpolarizes cells in response to yellow light, effectively silencing them. The discussion highlights the relevance of these findings to optogenetics, a term coined by Karl Deisseroth, who is noted for his contributions alongside Lim and Scanziani. The conversation also touches on the Morris Lecar model, suggesting that optogenetic technology could facilitate the exploration of its complex dynamics and parameter ranges.
Pythagorean
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neat trick:

http://www.hhmi.org/bulletin/may2010/features/moves3.html

If ChR2 is a blue activator, halorhodopsin (NpHR) is a yellow silencer. It was discovered in Natronobacterium pharaonis, a bacterium isolated from a high-alkaline, high-salt lake in Egypt. In the bacterium, the light-driven NpHR channels pump chloride ions into the cell, a flow that ultimately helps drive the synthesis of ATP, the cell's biochemical fuel. Transferred into neurons, however, these channels respond to yellow light by hyperpolarizing the cells, effectively silencing them.
 
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absolutely, we could probably merge the threads.

Deisseroth, who came up with the term optogenetics, was featured along side Lim and Scanziani in the HHMI article I picked this up from.
Here's Deisseroth's original paper:

http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/26/41/10380
 
I'm currently examining the Morris Lecar model, which still seems to have a lot of open parameters in it. It seems this kind of technology would make testing the consequences of the coupled nonlinear dynamics much, much easier and may even provide insight to reasonable parameter ranges.
 

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