Optogenetics allows researchers to control neuronal activity in the brain via light stimulation
 Credit and Larger Version |
May 14, 2013
Before graduate student Ed Boyden clicked the button that sent blue light pulsing across a dish of cultured brain cells in the wee hours of Aug. 4, 2004, he knew that he would learn something, no matter what happened next. If the cultured brain cells continued to go about their business, undisturbed by the light, he would know that something hadn't gone as planned and he would pack up and head home for the night. Alternatively, if the cultured brain cells responded with a burst of electrical activity, as he intended, he would be in for another late night at the lab.
He was alright with either option.
"I'm a big fan of the 'give it a try' method. If you design an experiment to be a constructive failure, that is, if you design it so that it will still tell you something even if it doesn't work, it's a way to begin to figure out what's going on."/.../
No comments:
Post a Comment