My MIT neuroengineering colleague professor Ed Boyden writes A history of optogenetics: the development of tools for controlling brain circuits with light... "Understanding how different kinds of neuron in the brain work together to implement sensations, feelings, thoughts, and movements, and how deficits in specific kinds of neuron result in brain diseases, has long been a priority in basic and clinical neuroscience. “Optogenetic” tools are genetically encoded molecules that, when targeted to specific neurons in the brain, enable their activity to be driven or silenced by light. [...] This review gives an account of the birth of optogenetics and discusses the technology and its applications."This is a great exemplar of scientist-history -- revealing the dynamics of innovation via a live-case study! Excellent contribution to the meta-history of science and technology.
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