IT·Science Talk

Optogenetics won the Nobel. Honest question: how close is it to treating anyone?

Researcher, though not in neuroscience, and I'm trying to cut through the coverage. The prize went to Deisseroth, Hegemann and Nagel for light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, basically a way to switch individual nerve cells on or off with light.

The GONOM post is careful: Al Jazeera mentions hopes for better cochlear implants, Stanford's president talks about “possibilities”, but nobody describes an approved therapy. So is this mostly a research tool for now, or are clinical uses actually close?