Optogenetic tools in the molecular spotlight

Photosensory receptors have been in the center of vision research and photobiology since the discovery of rhodopsin in 1876 by Franz Boll. However, only recently the rapid development of optogenetics has placed them in a more general focus. The majority of these biological light-sensors consist of a protein/pigment complex that modulates the activity of a biological effector upon absorption of a photon. With the nowadays available information on the corresponding genes, proteins and the vast access to (meta-)genomic data as well as sophisticated methods in molecular biology and genome engineering the photoreceptor principle of transforming light into biological information is now exploited in many different directions and fields of research

Website: http://www.arjonline.org/biosciences/american-research-journal-of-biosciences/