Developed for about a decade, optogenetics is a technology that consists of modifying the DNA of neurons to be able to manipulate their behavior (turn them on or off) using light.
Now, the announcement of a new invention could give a good boost to this promising scientific field: it is a wireless, flexible and biocompatible LED (light emitting diode) that, unlike other optogenetic tools, does not need to be attached to the skull. or other bone. As it receives energy through a tiny antenna, using radio frequency signals, it can remain in the body for long periods of time without causing damage.
The breakthrough came when Robert Gereau, director of the University of Washington pain center, and his colleagues tried to avoid the use of fiber optic cables, more susceptible to affecting tissues, in their optogenetics studies with mice. Thus they were interested in the work of the team of John Rogers, professor of materials science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who had shown that the brain activity of rodents could be modified with LED microdevices inserted into their brain and controlled without cables.
The two groups joined forces and are now in a position to claim that their tiny device can be used to study nerve circuits linked to pain. Specifically, the scientists located the implant in the sciatic nerve and the epidural space, in the spinal cord, and were able to modify the pain sensation of the animals. Scientists believe that it will now be easier to locate and study neurons that fire when we feel pain. The next step will be to unplug them .
