The rays stimulated brain cells and made the flies jump, walk or fly. The research may help to understand disorders such as overeating and aggression in humans
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Researchers from Yale University in the USA have succeeded in creating fruit flies that can be controlled remotely using laser beams. According to them, the research may help to understand phenomena such as overeating and violence among humans.
In the AP agency it was reported that the researchers used the laser beams to stimulate certain brain cells. According to them, they were able to make flies jump, walk, flap their wings and fly. According to the study, published in the April 7 issue of the journal Cell, even headless flies flew through the air when the researchers stimulated the right nerve cells.
According to the researchers, the study can help identify the cells associated with psychiatric disorders, such as overeating and aggressiveness. The fact that electrical stimuli can trigger a muscle response has been known for a long time. But the Yale researchers used focused light beams to stimulate nerve cells, which until now had been impossible to study with electrodes.
Professor Ger Meissenbock, from Yale University, estimated that if the research was applied to mice, it would be possible to better understand the cellular activity that causes a certain behavior. "In the end, it could be important for understanding psychiatric disorders," he said, "it's really futuristic stuff."
