University of Washington researchers are studying how to control the brain. They might have found the answer in an eel-like fish.
In a paper published in May, researchers at UW Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis and other institutions say they have successfully used a protein called parapinopsin to manipulate neurons and certain neurotransmitters.
The protein comes from a lamprey — a type of jawless fish similar to an eel — and researchers hope it could eventually be used to treat mood disorders, addiction, depression and even pain.
While neuroscientists have used light-sensitive proteins from plants and bacteria to experiment with neurons, this was the first time a lamprey has lent its protein to research.