“The goal of optogenetics is to understand the brain”

Awarded the 8th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine, neuroscientist Karl Deisseroth explains in this interview how his innovations—optogenetics and the optical tissue clearing technique (CLARITY)—have transformed the study of the brain. Deisseroth details how optogenetics allows neurons to be activated or inhibited with millimeter precision using light, and how CLARITY makes it possible to visualize entire neural circuits in three dimensions. These tools have opened new avenues for understanding cognitive processes, emotions, and psychiatric disorders. His reflections underscore the potential of neurotechnology to advance toward more precise diagnoses and future targeted therapies.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine goes in this eighth edition to neuroscientists Edward Boyden, Karl Deisseroth and Gero Miesenböck for the development of optogenetics, a method to study brain function with unprecedented resolution.