Light-Based Brain Treatments May Soon Be Used On Humans
John B. Carnett Plugged In Mouse with implant from one of Deisseroth's earlier optogenetic experiments Since the mid-2000s, scientists have been experimenting with and perfecting optogenetics, a light-based technique that could treat neurological disorders from Parkinson’s to depression. Since the experiments have been fairly invasive, most have been done on mice or rats. But that may soon change; the company Circuit Therapeutics, run by psychologist (and Brilliant 10 alum) Karl Deisseroth, is likely to start clinical trials for optogenetics in humans, according to Scientific American. Optogenetics treats disease by directing light at neurons to temporarily turn them on or off. But for that technique to work in mice, researchers have had to make two big modifications to their biology. First, researchers have to tweak mice’s genes...