Sonogenetics Essay

Sonogenetics is the use of ultrasonic soundwaves to control neurons to activate or deactivate cells. This can also be done through electrical currents or light (optogenetics). But, the issue with optogenetics, according to the website ZME Science’s article Ultrasounds used to control neurons in a worm's brain by Tibi Puiu is that light is unable to go through the body like sound can. Neuroscientists need a way to activate singular neurons reliably, specifically ones in deep inside the brain. Sonogenetics could be the answer to this problem. According to Singularity Hub’s article Brain-Controlling Sound Waves Used to Steer Genetically Modified Worms by Shelly Fan, by using pulses of ultrasound and microbubbles with some nematode worms, a group of scientists at the Salk Institute in California were able control the worms into moving certain directions or in certain patterns. The process was non-invasive and could lead to many new ways to control even a human brain in the future. Since the success with the worms, it was experimented on other animals but they lacked TRP-4 which …show more content…
Some incurable brain disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, benefit from focused brain stimulation. Many scientists have predicted that this could be used for such disorders, but since the target brain area is deeply buried in the brain, clinicians have backed off from trying it in humans (so far).” Eventually this will lead to huge improvements in the science of health and even in weaponry. Sound can be very dangerous or helpful when used in the right way. The experiment that will be carried out will originally be the same one with the nematode worms but then will progress into working with other forms of life. By finding a way to put the TRP-4 into some other organism and then successfully performing the experiment, that would mean that it is very possible for that to work on humans as