Close X
Thursday, October 3, 2024
ADVT 
International

Indian-American Scientist Uses Sound Waves To Control Brain Cells

Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 Sep, 2015 01:15 PM
    In a first, an Indian American researcher from Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California has developed a new way to selectively activate brain, heart, muscle and other cells using ultrasonic sound waves.
     
    Dubbed as sonogenetics, the new technique has some similarities to the burgeoning use of light to activate cells in order to better understand the brain.
     
    “Light-based techniques are great for some uses. But this is a new, additional tool to manipulate neurons and other cells in the body,” informed ," Sreekanth Chalasani, assistant professor in Salk's molecular neurobiology laboratory.
     
    The new method - which uses the same type of waves used in medical sonograms - may have advantages over the light-based approach - known as optogenetics - particularly when it comes to adapting the technology to human therapeutics.
     
    In optogenetics, researchers add light-sensitive channel proteins to neurons they wish to study.
     
    By shining a focused laser on the cells, they can selectively open these channels, either activating or silencing the target neurons.
     
    Chalasani and his group decided to see if they could develop an approach that instead relied on ultrasound waves for the activation.
     
    “In contrast to light, low-frequency ultrasound can travel through the body without any scattering," he noted.
     
    “This could be a big advantage when you want to stimulate a region deep in the brain without affecting other regions,” adds Stuart Ibsen, post-doctoral fellow in the Chalasani lab.
     
    So far, sonogenetics has only been applied to C. elegans neurons.
     
    “The real prize will be to see whether this could work in a mammalian brain," Chalasani pointed out.
     
    His group has already begun testing the approach in mice.
     
    “When we make the leap into therapies for humans, I think we have a better shot with noninvasive sonogenetics approaches than with optogenetics,” he emphasised in a paper appeared in the journal Nature Communications.
     
    Chalasani obtained his PhD from University of Pennsylvania. He then did his post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr Cori Bargmann at the Rockefeller University in New York.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Crimea starts reforms to move toward Moscow

    Crimea starts reforms to move toward Moscow
    The newly-proclaimed Republic of Crimea is scheduled to start using Russian rouble as its official currency from March 24, the republic's parliament speaker has revealed

    Crimea starts reforms to move toward Moscow

    Did Pakistan know about Osama bin Laden's hideout?

    Did Pakistan know about Osama bin Laden's hideout?
    The denunciation came in the light of a New York Times report published Wednesday stating Pakistan's then Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha knew where Bin Laden had been hiding, Xinhua reported

    Did Pakistan know about Osama bin Laden's hideout?

    Missing Malaysia Flight MH370: Suspicious Objects Give Fresh Twist

    Missing Malaysia Flight MH370: Suspicious Objects Give Fresh Twist
    Chinese naval vessels were heading for the south Indian Ocean off the Australian coast Thursday after a fresh twist was given to the mystery of the missing Malaysian airliner with Australian authorities reporting that suspicious objects were found in the area.

    Missing Malaysia Flight MH370: Suspicious Objects Give Fresh Twist

    Ukraine to move UN for demilitarisation in Crimea

    Ukraine to move UN for demilitarisation in Crimea
    Kiev will ask the UN to grant the crisis-hit Crimean peninsula the status of a demilitarised area, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.

    Ukraine to move UN for demilitarisation in Crimea

    Russian parliament approves accession of Crimea

    Russian parliament approves accession of Crimea
    The Russian State Duma or lower house of parliament Thursday approved a federal law on the accession of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, where the Russian Black Sea fleet is based.

    Russian parliament approves accession of Crimea

    Breaking: Possible Debris of Missing Malaysian Jet Located In Indian Ocean

    Breaking: Possible Debris of Missing Malaysian Jet Located In Indian Ocean
    Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced Thursday that objects possibly related to the Malaysian airliner that went missing March 8 have been found in the southern Indian Ocean.

    Breaking: Possible Debris of Missing Malaysian Jet Located In Indian Ocean