Nobel Prize In Physiology: A Deeper Mapping Of The Brain
· Free Press Journal
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine illuminates every year a landmark achievement in the field, and this year’s honour has gone to three scientists whose work on light-sensing proteins and optogenetics promises to advance neurological studies and therapies.
Optogenetics involves the use of light to switch cells on and off; the transmission of light in the cell is made possible by proteins such as rhodopsins.
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The work of Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel, researchers at Stanford University in the US, Humboldt, and Wurzburg universities in Germany, respectively, has made it possible to study neurons and neural pathways and analyse such functions as eating, aggression, and sociability.
The foundational work in the field was done by these scientists at Stanford and the Max Planck Institutes of Biochemistry and Biophysics in Germany. Conditions such as Parkinson’s and epilepsy have also been understood better as a result of their new research pathway.
As the Nobel committee said in its announcement, the advent of optogenetics has made brain mapping possible at a level that scientists could only dream of at one time.
Studies by Hegemann and Nagel in the 1990s and 2000s uncovered the phenomenon of a single-celled alga, Chlamydomonas, swimming towards light because of the presence of a protein that was named channelrhodopsin.
This finding took a leap forward when Deisseroth genetically engineered rats to produce the protein and studied specific nerves that could be activated by shining light.
A whole new discipline of research with prospects for deeper understanding and potential therapeutic treatments for neurological conditions was thus born.
Optogenetics In Psychiatry
In the field of psychiatry, in which Deisseroth has done considerable work, optogenetics has helped gain a better understanding of ailments such as depression, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s.
Following the original discovery of light-sensitive proteins, more have been found that respond to different colours, aiding targeted research. What is more, there has been some promising work on using optogenetics to treat retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive condition in which light-sensing cells of the eye die, causing vision loss.
This experimental area involves the injection of DNA encoding for proteins that are sensitive to light, which enables some vision to be restored because the retinal neurons can then sense light and convey it to the brain.
The impact of optogenetics on neurological studies cannot be overstated because of the complex nature of the brain’s functioning, which influences many dimensions of life. Moreover, the Nobel is a recognition of frontline research that is often not immediately comprehensible to all but expands basic science.
All nations with a scientific bent of mind are enthused by the halo that envelops a landmark piece of work, encouraging innumerable young researchers to devote themselves to deeper enquiry. A culture of rationality and scientific thought empowers society in fundamental ways.