Guiding lights
In a scientific first that could shed light on how signals travel in the brain and the effects of learning on neural pathways, scientists at Harvard have created genetically altered neurons that light up as they fire. The work may also lead to speedier drug development. Led by John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Natural Sciences Adam Cohen and described in Nature Methods on Nov. 27, the research involved using a gene from a Dead Sea microorganism to produce a protein that, when exposed to the electrical signal in a neuron, fluoresces, allowing scientists to trace the propagation of signals through the cell. “It’s very exciting,” Cohen said. “In terms of basic biology, there are a number of things we can now do which we’ve never been able to do. We can see how these signals spread through the neuronal network. We can study the speed at which the signal spreads,...