Work

Finding the Spark

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: It began, as with many good things, at a happy hour. Adam Cohen, a young assistant professor asked whether rhodopsins could be used to optically sense voltage. In the heady days of 2009, channel rhodopsin had just been unveiled as a voltage actuator in neurons. Adam had the insight to question whether rhodopsins could be run in reverse; could optical changes in a protein relay the cellular voltage state using light? This was one of the earliest lessons I learned under his mentorship, and the first piece of advice in this retrospective-turning a scientific question or statement on its head can be the basis for many fantastic research projects.

Source: Bioelectricity

DOI: 10.1089/bioe.2021.0017

Author: Joel M. Kralj

Institution: University of Colorado Boulder

Language: English

Topic: Photoreceptor and optogenetics research

Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Award: Neuronal electromics in health and disease