Did you know the Michael J. Fox Foundation
is funding research about the effects of light on Parkinson’s disease? According
to Kurzweil News, researchers at Lund University plan to use optogenetics to stimulate
neurons to release more dopamine in an effort to combat Parkinson’s disease. Optogenetics
reportedly permits researchers to control specific cells in the brain using
light, leaving other cells unaffected. To do this, the relevant cells are
equipped with genes that express a special light-sensitive protein. The protein
switches on cells when they are illuminated with light from a thin optic fiber
implanted in the brain. The study itself will be conducted on laboratory rats with
symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Reportedly, the transplanted cells will be obtained from
the skin of an adult human and then “reprogrammed” to function as nerve cells.
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