Optogenetics: light, plants and the human brain - John Christie скачать в хорошем качестве

Optogenetics: light, plants and the human brain - John Christie

The study of optogenetics looks at how plants detect and use light. New research from Professor John Christie of the University of Glasgow has far-reaching applications into neurology and could help us understand the human brain better. Plants need sunlight for photosynthesis in order to generate food. So it’s not too surprising to discover that plants can alter their growth to capture as much light as possible. One example is phototropism, the process by which plants grow in the direction of light. We all like to sunbathe, but for plants it’s a question of survival. Consequently, plants have evolved a range of specialized photoreceptors to detect and respond to different colours of light. Understanding how these light-responsive proteins function to coordinate plant development is essential if we are to modulate growth for agronomic gain. Moreover, the ability of light to trigger photoreceptor activation in a rapid and synchronized way has also opened up exciting possibilities to artificially place biological processes under spatial and temporal control with unprecedented precision, offering new strategies for clinical therapies such as the restoration of neural function and vision. 0:00 Introduction 0:20 What is optogenetics? 0:53 Plants can detect different colours of light 1:52 How do plants detect light on the molecular level? 2:27 Using light in plants to understand the human brain 3:52 Using fundamental biology to create new tools Speaker profile: John Christie obtain his degree in Biochemistry at the University of Glasgow going on to a PhD in Molecular Biology investigating how UV light regulates gene expression flavonoid biosynthesis. He is currently Professor of Photobiology and Deputy Head of the Institute of Molecular Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Glasgow. His research interests centre on using biophysical to physiological methods to understand how photosensory systems operate to shape plant growth and development. As well as identifying the long sought-after photoreceptor for phototropism and more recently the elusive plant UV-B photoreceptor, his work also extends to developing new optogenetic tools to non-invasively track bacterial and viral infections and control neural processes. Filmed on location at the Gatsy Plant Science Summer School, 2016.