Description:

Please join The Department of Pharmacology, in an enthusiastic welcome, extended to Dr. Adam E. Cohen, Ph.D., Professor, Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and of Physics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Harvard University.

The following, is an overview of this seminar, as described by Dr. Cohen:

"All-Optical Electrophysiology for iPSC-Based Disease Modeling"

“In the wild, microbial rhodopsin proteins convert solar energy into changes in transmembrane voltage, which provide energy and information for their host. We engineered a microbial rhodopsin to run in reverse: to convert changes in membrane potential into a readily detectable optical signal. When expressed in a neuron or a cardiac myocyte, these voltage-indicating proteins convert electrical action potentials into visible flashes of fluorescence. We are now using optical electrophysiology to study bio-electric phenomena throughout life. I will describe in detail our efforts at iPSC-based disease modeling in models of ALS and epilepsy.”