Manufacture of light-activated proteins
(PHYSorg.com Chemistry)

A new strategy for designing light-sensitive proteins has been developed by researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB). Such proteins, also known as optogenetic tools, can be switched on and off through light impulses, thus triggering specific cellular processes. They can, for example, be used to analyze and control how signals are transmitted by nerve cells. So far, researchers developing optogenetic tools have been pretty much forced to resort to trial-and-error. A combination of computer-aided and experimental methods has now paved the way for a more targeted approach.