Synthetic photoswitches have been known for many years, but their usefulness in biology,
pharmacology, and medicine has only recently been systematically explored. Over the past …

The field of photopharmacology uses molecular photoswitches to establish control over the
action of bioactive molecules. It aims to reduce systemic drug toxicity and the emergence of …

In the past few years, spiropyran has emerged as the molecule-of-choice for the construction
of novel dynamic materials. This unique molecular switch undergoes structural isomerisation …

Controlling the conformation and activity of biomolecules in a reversible manner is a
fascinating challenge (1-3) that has an outstanding potential for the study of and interference …

The mammalian retina consists of neurons of> 60 distinct types, each playing a specific role
in processing visual images. They are arranged in three main stages. The first decomposes …

Inherited retinal degenerative diseases are a clinically promising focus of adeno-associated
virus (AAV)–mediated gene therapy. These diseases arise from pathogenic mutations in …

Unmodified neurons can be directly stimulated with light to produce action potentials, but
such techniques have lacked localization of the delivered light energy. Here we show that …

Light-controllable tools provide powerful means to manipulate and interrogate brain function
with relatively low invasiveness and high spatiotemporal precision. Although optogenetic …

Transmembrane receptors allow a cell to communicate with its environment in response to a
variety of input signals. These can be changes in the concentration of ligands (eg hormones …

One strategy to restore vision in retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration
is cell replacement. Typically, patients lose vision when the outer retinal photoreceptor layer …