Optogenetics: Shedding Light on the Future of Neuroscience

In recent years the up and coming field of optogenetics has taken over the field of neuroscience. This up and coming technique for brain manipulation has proven to be what might be the future of treatment for a wide range of neurological disorders. 

In the novel “Frankenstein’s Cat”, author Emily Anthes broaches the topic of optogenetics in her pop culture commentary on biological and technological manipulation of the living creatures around us. Optogenetics is a biotechnology that Anthes sees as more than just a way to bend the will of our furry friends. While scientists are currently experimenting with the technology by making rodents fall asleep or wake up, directing movements or initiating aggression, Anthes points out that this neurological method once fully developed might prove to be much more useful to humans than just mind manipulation of our pets.

The way it works is really quite simple. Using modified viruses as a delivery method, scientists insert an opsin gene into the brain of whatever animal they are working with. Once the virus infects the neuronal cells, the opsin gene is inserted into the genome of the animal and the cell begins to produce opsin molecules that are then inserted into the cell membrane. Opsins are channel molecules that open or close in response to light, causing the neuron to fire or causing it to be suppressed. Single neurons or groups of neurons can be triggered by light to elicit some sort of response in the animal.

In a news article on the BBC, “Scientists can implant false memories into mice”, it was reported that neuroscientists have been able to genetically alter neurons related to memory formation in the brains of mice to be optically active. They then treated those neurons with light to create false memories. These memories are designed to elicit a fear response and scientists claim that when triggered, they are indistinguishable from the true memories of the mouse. It is possible that this research might help scientists discover how false memories are created in humans and that it could help them to even learn to use optics to delete false memories – a concept which may eventually prove useful in treating a neurological disorders such as schizophrenia where false memories are created in the human brain or even post-traumatic stress disorder.

BBC has also reported on other studies done where scientists have been able to use optogenetics to treat epileptic seizures in rats. The technology is capable of interfering with the function of one neuron at a time depending on how the opsin and the light are delivered. With this kind of specificity, there’s no telling how far this technology could go in the treatment of neurological disorders.

Emily Anthes points out that the animals are key here – we can’t know the capabilities until the science is perfected and tested on animal brains. The line is fuzzy – how far is too far with using animals in this type of experimentation? – but there is possibility for revolutionary new treatments and breakthroughs in the human world, a possibility that is nearly impossible to ignore. 

Sources:

Anthes, Emily. (2013). Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts.

New York, NY. Scientific American/ Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. 

Hogenboom, Melissa. "Scientists Can Implant False Memories into Mice." BBC News. BBC, 25 July 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.

Feilden, Tom. "Switching on a Light in the Brain." BBC News. BBC, 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.