Ed Boyden, PhD, is a professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at the MIT Media Lab and the MIT McGovern Institute. He leads the Synthetic Neurobiology Group, which develops ...

In biology, seeing can lead to understanding, and researchers in Professor Edward Boyden's lab at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research are committed to bringing life into sharper focus. With a ...

Neurological disorders have been historically difficult to treat due to the intractable nature of the brain and nervous system. However, synthetic biology enables scientists to develop technologies ...

The optogenetic toolset is composed of genetically encoded molecules that, when targeted to specific neurons in the brain, enable the electrical activity of those neurons to be driven or silenced by ...

This level of resolution allows scientists to see, for example, the proteins that cluster together in complex patterns at brain synapses, helping neurons to communicate with each other. It could also ...