Using light to tackle nicotine addition

Scientists from Inserm, the CNRS and Sorbonne University within the Neuroscience Paris-Seine laboratory, in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur, New York University (NYU) and the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), have successfully controlled the activity of nicotinic receptors in the brains of mice. They developed a strategy based on optogenetic pharmacology that uses light to block nicotinic receptors – raising the prospect of controlling the addictive effects of nicotine. Their research was published in eLIFE.

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