In the research, the gene for the Chlamydomonas channelrhodopsin was transferred into living animal brain cells and flashes of light were used to switch individual neurons on or off, helping pinpoint the exact circuits in the brain that control behaviour, feelings, memories, movements, waking and sleeping, and other bodily functions.
This technique helped pinpoint the exact circuits in the brain that control behaviour, feelings, memories, movements, waking and sleeping, and other bodily functions, all stemming from esoteric studies of a humble alga.
A tiny one-celled alga has helped reveal how memories, feelings, and behaviour form in the human brain, following research by three scientists awarded the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine this month.
The research centers on Chlamydomonas, a humble alga that swims towards light using a light-sensing protein called channelrhodopsin, which is remarkably similar to the rhodopsin found in human eyes.
In the scientific breakthrough, the gene for the Chlamydomonas channelrhodopsin was transferred into living animal brain cells. Researchers used flashes of light to switch individual neurons on or off.
When channelrhodopsin detects light, electrically charged ions rush into the cell from outside. This triggers an electrical signal incredibly fast that tells the alga to move with its hair-like motor.
Chlamydomonas and its light-sensing protein help show how memories, feelings and behaviour form in our brains A tiny alga has helped show how memories, feelings and behaviour form in our brains, in research by three scientists awarded the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine this month.
Chlamydomonas is a one-celled alga that swims towards light using a light-sensing protein called channelrhodopsin, remarkably similar to the rhodopsin in our eyes.
When the channelrhodopsin detects light, electrically charged ions rush into the cell from outside, triggering an electrical signal incredibly fast that tells the alga to move with its hair-like motor.
All of this stemming from esoteric studies of a humble alga.