Science magazine today (276:547) printed a blurb on a paper in Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.) (*) on some really important
work. Researchers have conjugated luciferase (a chemical which glows when
it joins up with luciferin) to synaptotagmin, a protein found in synaptic
vescicles. The result is that they can now image individual synapses
firing, over a wide area and in real time. This is going to be a VERY
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ (emph. by 'gene)
important technique; when you can monitor all the natural inputs (via this
technique) and simultaneously monitor the output (via an electrode or
several other methods), you can characterize the computational properties
of the neuron under natural circumstances.
I think the neuron will be completely understood by the end of the
millenium. Now all we have to do is develop techniques for digitizing
them...
Onward & Upward,
-- Joe
(*) Miesenbock and Rothman, PNAS USA, 94:3402 (1997).
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| Joseph J. Strout Department of Neuroscience, UCSD |
| jstrout@ucsd.edu http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/~jstrout/ |
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