Human cells are the cornerstone of the human body. The protein running in the body is the workhorse of our life. They play a vital role of oxygen transmission, tissue creation, and also organization of actions among and within the cell.
Researchers from the University of North Carolina located at Chapel Hill discovered a method that can control protein actions inside the cell with just a light exposure.
The research was led by Klaus Hahn and Nikolay Dokholyan and pioneered by Onur Dagliyan—a student in their labs. The team successfully developed exceptional technology termed as optogenetics.
The technique isn’t totally new in the world, as it was first developed in the period 21st century. The method was to utilize light to turn on and off the proteins, which probably activates and deactivates the brain cells; however, it had some limitations in its functioning as only some proteins responded to the light technique.
Thus, in the new research, the scientist broke the limitations and expanded the optogenetics technique to direct a huge range of proteins without affecting its functionality. It has also tested the amount of protein that will be activated and deactivated if there is a variation in light intensity. The scientists were keen to identify how the protein would perform after the switching light process.
Owing to this research, it would be very helpful for the scientists to expand the application of the optogenetics technique for various disease diagnosis or to treat the diseases.
