Temporally precise, noninvasive control of neural circuitry is a long-sought goal of neuroscientists and biomedical engineers. Stanford University researchers in the laboratory of Dr.
Researchers in the laboratories of Dr. Karl Deisseroth and Dr. Peter Hegemann have engineered mutant ChR2 (Channelrhodopsin-2) proteins with light-sensitivity that is increased by orders of magnitude compared to wild-type ChR2.
Researchers in Prof. Karl Deisseroth's lab have discovered and engineered new microbial opsin proteins and cell trafficking tools to enable selective cell-type specific, light-sensitive switches for neuromodulation.
Researchers in Prof. Karl Deisseroth's laboratory have developed a portfolio of microbial opsin proteins that can be used for precise and modular photosensitization components that enable optical control of specific cellular processes.
Researchers in Dr. Karl Deisseroth's lab have engineered a channelrhodopsin variant that can be stimulated by red light and has fast stimulation frequencies. In neurons, channelrhodopsins are light activated protein channels that induce action potential firing.
To better understand how the brain processes information and generates behavior, researchers in Dr. Liqun Luo's lab have generated the FosTRAP and ArcTRAP mouse strains.
Researchers in Dr. Karl Deisseroth's lab have created inhibitory channelrhodopsins (ChRs) that allow fast, reversible inhibition of electrical signals in neurons. Optogenetics is a technique used to understand normal and pathological neural circuitry.
Researchers in Prof. Robert Malenka's laboratory have developed a light-activated animal system that could be used to identify compounds that treat certain psychiatric disorders.
Researchers in Prof. Karl Deisseroth's laboratory have developed a system to enhance optogenetic pumps using one tool to address current limitations in both inhibition and excitation.
Stanford and Rockefeller researchers have identified and developed dynein-specific inhibitors that have significant medical applications involving mitotic spindle assembly, organelle transport, and primary cilia formation.