Optogenetics – Hope, Expectation and Disillusionment

Prof. Dr. Peter Hegemann, Institut für Biologie, Experimentelle Biophysik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
am 8. April 2019

Optogenetics” is a still young scientific discipline that makes it possible to activate or inactivate individual cells or cell types of large cell assemblies such as the brain with previously unattained specificity and temporal and spatial precision using light. Optogenetics thus serves neurosciences in particular to elucidate and finally understand the function of individual cells in the large tent structure of the brain for our development, cognitive abilities and social behaviour. In special cases, optogenetics also opens up possibilities for therapeutic approaches such as the restoration of vision or hearing in blind or deaf patients or the treatment of Parkinson’s or epilepsy.