What Is Optogenetics and How Can We Use It to Discover More About the Brain? · Frontiers for Young Minds

How does the brain work? This is a question that scientists have been interested in for hundreds of years. In order to figure out how the brain works, scientists have had to do lots of experiments and figure out ways to examine and test the brain. In 2005, a new technique was created, called optogenetics. This technique uses a combination of light and genetic engineering (changing the genetic information of a living thing by inserting or deleting information in the genetic code) to control the cells of the brain. Optogenetics has become very popular and is now being used in brain research laboratories all over the world. It is helping us to discover many new things about the brain. Here, we explain what makes optogenetics so special for studying the brain.