In 2011, Ed Boyden won the IET Harvey Prize in recognition of his contribution in the field of optogenetics. Now some years later, he came to the IET to update the organisation on the progress his team have made in that field and how their contrarian approach has led to developments elsewhere.
The field combines light-based optical technologies and genetics to control the activity of neurons, enabling treatment of conditions resulting from a wide variety of brain disorders, such as epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder, and Parkinson’s disease.
Boyden described novel techniques, such as repeated miniaturisation of structures by injecting a lattice and using dehydration of hydrogels. This was discovered by reversing a process performed to increase the scale of neutrons in brain tissue so they could be visualised for research projects.
Marquee events like this are always very popular at the IET and this one was was very well attended. What was particularly notable was the number of well-informed questions after his presentation from researchers in similar fields who had travelled to attend the event.
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