So**genetics: Ultrasound Used to Activate Neurons, May Eclipse Capabilities of Optoge
 

So**genetics: Ultrasound Used to Activate Neurons, May Eclipse Capabilities of Optogenetics
[IMG]http://www.medgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/So**genetics.jpg[/IMG]We’ve been covering for years the field of optogenetics, which involves the use of light to trigger the activity of individual cells, usually neurons. **w researchers at the*Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a new technique that uses sound to do a similar trick. Called so**genetics, the tech**logy may overcome some of the limitations of optogenetics, specifically having a light source or fiber optics implanted into the body and the fact that light quickly scatters within living tissue. This may help bring to reality functional control of neural cells deep within the brain, leading to clinical treatments for conditions currently lacking meaningful therapies.

The tech**logy was demonstrated on*Cae**rhabditis elegans nematodes in which a membrane ion channel was discovered that reacts to low intensity ultrasound waves. The researchers genetically modified neurons within the nematodes to express this ion channel and then were able activate the neurons externally using a nearby ultrasound transducer.

The team is already working on transferring the tech**logy to mammals with the goal of eventually leading to clinical applications of so**genetics.

Here’s a video of a C. elegans under neural sound stimulation:





Study in Nature Communications: So**genetics is a **n-invasive approach to activating neurons in Cae**rhabditis elegans…

Via:*Salk Institute…

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