Complexity Digest 2006.51 - 14

22-Dec-2006

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Optogenetics: Shining New Light on Neural Circuits, Science Bookmark and Share

Excerpts: When researchers from Yale University reported last year that they'd used a laser to activate neurons in fruit flies and in turn control the insects' behavior, even Jay Leno thought it was cool. In a skit, the Tonight Show host pretended to use a remote-controlled fly to harass President George W. Bush during a speech. "I thought it was actually quite funny," says Gero Miesenboeck, the neuroscientist who led the study. A video clip of Leno's skit elicited chuckles when Miesenboeck played it during a presentation at October's meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Atlanta, Georgia.