Optogenetics

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A science that combines optics and genetics, aiming at controlling cellular processes with light. The cells are made responsive to light using genetics and then activated using specific wavelengths. uncountable

    "It is the exquisite precision that can be achieved, without any destruction, that renders optogenetics such a powerful tool."

Example

More examples

"It is the exquisite precision that can be achieved, without any destruction, that renders optogenetics such a powerful tool."

Etymology

(2006) Coined from optics and genetics by Karl Deisseroth and Mark J. Schnitzer in a review paper (K. Deisseroth, G. Feng, A. K. Majewska, G. Miesenböck, A. Ting, M. J. Schnitzer, Next-Generation Optical Technologies for Illuminating Genetically Targeted Brain Circuits, Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 26, no. 41 (October 2006), pp. 10380–6).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.