Optogenetics: Lightly Pressing the Cell's Buttons:Engineering of Light Sensitivity into Specific Parts of Cells Enables Dissection of Signaling Pathways

摘要

"You can observe a lot just by watching," said the accidental sage, leaving us to wonderwhether he meant to celebrate the power or lament the futility of simply paying attention. Were he scientifically inclined, he might have added that mere observation is unsatisfy-ing because many things can be learned only through experimentation—perturbing things, then seeing what happens next. So it is with cells: Once roused or stifled, cells may reveal much that would otherwise remain hidden.