The ability to identify and control individual brain cells (neurones) has generated huge interest in recent years, it's made for some startling discoveries and some incredible images (like the one below). But we're really only beginning to scratch the surface of the potential these technologies hold, and the techniques here are quite controversial. This is a real image of individual neurones and the connections they make, all with individual colourings The actual methods for controlling individual neurones require a lot of complex genetic manipulation, but the general concepts are easier to get to grasps with. The main method used for the genetic manipulation of animal genomes is the cre-lox system. I won't go into the details (you can read a great review by its inventor here ) but this technique allows scientists to insert or remove any gene you want, in any cell, even at specific times (when the cells are still growing or mature for example). The next questi
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