The absorption of light by bound or diffusible chromophores causes conformational rearrangements in natural and artificial photoreceptor proteins. These rearrangements are coupled to the opening or closing of ion transport pathways, the association or dissociation of binding partners, the enhancement or suppression of catalytic activity, or the transcription or repression of genetic information. Illumination of cells, tissues, or organisms engineered genetically to express photoreceptor proteins can thus be used to perturb biochemical and electrical signaling with exquisite cellular and molecular specificity. First demonstrated in 2002, this principle of optogenetic control has had a profound impact on neuroscience, where it provides a direct and stringent means of probing the organization of neural circuits and of identifying the neural substrates of behavior. The impact of optogenetic control is also beginning to be felt in other areas of cell and organismal biology.

中文翻译：

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细胞和电路的光遗传学控制。

结合或可扩散的发色团对光的吸收导致天然和人造感光蛋白的构象重排。这些重排与离子转运途径的打开或关闭、结合伴侣的结合或解离、催化活性的增强或抑制，或遗传信息的转录或抑制有关。因此，通过基因工程改造以表达感光蛋白的细胞、组织或生物体的照明可用于干扰具有精细细胞和分子特异性的生化和电信号。2002 年首次证明，这种光遗传学控制原理对神经科学产生了深远的影响，它提供了一种直接而严格的方法来探索神经回路的组织和识别行为的神经基础。在细胞和有机体生物学的其他领域也开始感受到光遗传学控制的影响。