Excellent new article on optogenetics in The New Yorker. Optogenetics is a powerful, cutting-edge tool developed by Karl Deisseroth’s lab (profiled in the article) and is one of most significant advances in neuroscience research in decades. I recently spent two months learning the technique and we will be implementing it in the lab I work in at Rockefeller University. Optogenetics allows researchers to turn specific neurons “on” and “off” and see how those neurons are directly involved in a particular behavior. The article does a great job of profiling Deisseroth himself and explaining a little bit of the history of optogenetics and other developments in the Deisseroth lab. Enjoy!

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/18/lighting-the-brain