Robot reveals the inner workings of brain cells
Sunday, May 6, 2012 - 18:00
in Biology & Nature
Researchers at MIT and the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a way to automate a process called whole-cell patch clamping Gaining access to the inner workings of a neuron in the living brain offers a wealth of useful information: its patterns of electrical activity, its shape, even a profile of which genes are turned on at a given moment. However, achieving this entry is such a painstaking task that it is considered an art form; it is so difficult to learn that only a small number of labs in the world practice it.