Remote controlled flies help to discover brain function
8 April 2005
by Richard Conan-Davies
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Remote controlled cars and planes are a great toy to play with. But what about a remote controlled fly? Imagine the kind of fun you could have with such an annoying thing!. Medical researchers from Yale University School of Medicine have done exactly this. Well it was a little more complicated because they had to genetically engineer the flies with little ion channel switches in the nerves of the flys that would respond to a laser lights. Susana Lima and Gero Miesenböck who led the work said these techniques provide some insights into how nerves cells are related to specific behaviours from basic responses to even abstract thought. This is as an alternative method to using potenitally damaging electrodes when studying the brain. |
 Researchers have developed a technique to remotely switch nerves in flys using a laser light making the flies jump, beat their wings, and fly |
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Original news release from Eureka Alert
Original article from the Journal Cell
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