‘Of Mice and Pain’: Using light instead of pills a future possibility

A fascinating, yet not fully developed technology of using light to modify the DNA of neurons in living organisms has just been employed as a painkiller in mice, paving the way for very effective and inexpensive cure for pains in humans. Optogenetics is a very high-tech method for controlling nerve cells, and although around for a few years, continues to yield amazing discoveries. People’s fascination with it lies in its ability to be used for controlling nerve behavior in living things with surgical precision. Read more.