(4:12) Feng Zhang, a member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, is designing new molecular tools for manipulating the living brain. As a student, he played a major role in the development of optogenetics, a technology by which the brain’s electrical activity can be controlled with light-sensitive proteins. He is now working to extend this molecular engineering approach to other aspects of brain function such as gene expression, and to develop new approaches to understanding and eventually treating brain diseases.

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[Stock footage and images courtesy of istockphoto, pond5, and Junying Yu, University of Wisconsin-Madison]