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Optogenetics: Basic Concepts and Their Development

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Optogenetics

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1408))

Abstract

The discovery of light-gated ion channels and their application to controlling neural activities have had a transformative impact on the field of neuroscience. In recent years, the concept of using light-activated proteins to control biological processes has greatly diversified into other fields, driven by the natural diversity of photoreceptors and decades of knowledge obtained from their biophysical characterization. In this chapter, we will briefly discuss the origin and development of optogenetics and highlight the basic concepts that make it such a powerful technology. We will review how these enabling concepts have developed over the past decade, and discuss future perspectives.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the University of Connecticut and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD Young Investigator grant).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Yong Ku Cho & Dan Li

  2. Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Yong Ku Cho

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  1. Yong Ku Cho
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  2. Dan Li
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Correspondence to Yong Ku Cho .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bielefeld, Dept of Cellular & Dev Biology of Plants, Bielefeld, Germany

    Arash Kianianmomeni

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Cho, Y.K., Li, D. (2016). Optogenetics: Basic Concepts and Their Development. In: Kianianmomeni, A. (eds) Optogenetics. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1408. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3512-3_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3512-3_1

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