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What does "liftoff" actually mean here? From the video all I could tell was they taped a tiny circuit to a dragonfly and then let it fly away. Were they contr

What does "liftoff" actually mean here? From the video all I could tell was they taped a tiny circuit to a dragonfly and then let it fly away. Were they controlling the insect? Did the circuit do anything useful? Or was the milestone that they managed to get that little backpack on the dragonfly in the first place?

fudged71 9y ago
"DragonflEye [...] create new optogenetic tools that send guidance commands from the backpack to special “steering” neurons inside the dragonfly nerve cord." [0] [0] http://www.draper.com/news/equipping-insects-special-service#sthash.MTBxZA1x.dpuf http://www.draper.com/news/equipping-insects-special-service...
Someone 9y ago
http://www.draper.com/news/equipping-insects-special-service http://www.draper.com/news/equipping-insects-special-service has some more info: "Research at HHMI—led by Anthony Leonardo, Janelia Research Campus group leader—has led to a deeper understanding of “steering” neurons in the nervous system of the dragonfly that control flight. HHMI is applying techniques in synthetic biology to make these “steering” neurons sensitive to light by inserting genes similar to those naturally found in the eye. Draper is developing tiny optical structures, called optrodes, that can activate the special “steering” neurons with pulses of light piped into the nerve cord from the dragonfly’s backpack. Traditional optical fibers are too stiff to be wrapped around the tiny dragonfly nerve cord, so Draper developed innovative flexible optrodes that can bend light around sub-millimeter turns. These optrodes will enable precise and targeted neural activation without disrupting the thousands of nearby neurons." It isn't clear to me whether they have done that yet, though, and, if so, how good the steering works.
- leggomylibro 9y ago
  >HHMI is applying techniques in synthetic biology to make these “steering” neurons sensitive to light by inserting genes similar to those naturally found in the eye. Yeah, I'm going to need to see a lot more information on what they mean by that. Which genes? What proteins do they code for? How is their transfection being targeted to only "steering" neurons? What proportion of their 'optrodes' successfully contact their target neuron? Among other questions... This sounds highly aspirational, not like an actual product or even a proof-of-concept.

fudged71 9y ago

"DragonflEye [...] create new optogenetic tools that send guidance commands from the backpack to special “steering” neurons inside the dragonfly nerve cord." [0] [0] http://www.draper.com/news/equipping-insects-special-service#sthash.MTBxZA1x.dpuf http://www.draper.com/news/equipping-insects-special-service...

Someone 9y ago

http://www.draper.com/news/equipping-insects-special-service http://www.draper.com/news/equipping-insects-special-service has some more info: "Research at HHMI—led by Anthony Leonardo, Janelia Research Campus group leader—has led to a deeper understanding of “steering” neurons in the nervous system of the dragonfly that control flight. HHMI is applying techniques in synthetic biology to make these “steering” neurons sensitive to light by inserting genes similar to those naturally found in the eye. Draper is developing tiny optical structures, called optrodes, that can activate the special “steering” neurons with pulses of light piped into the nerve cord from the dragonfly’s backpack. Traditional optical fibers are too stiff to be wrapped around the tiny dragonfly nerve cord, so Draper developed innovative flexible optrodes that can bend light around sub-millimeter turns. These optrodes will enable precise and targeted neural activation without disrupting the thousands of nearby neurons." It isn't clear to me whether they have done that yet, though, and, if so, how good the steering works.

leggomylibro 9y ago
>HHMI is applying techniques in synthetic biology to make these “steering” neurons sensitive to light by inserting genes similar to those naturally found in the eye. Yeah, I'm going to need to see a lot more information on what they mean by that. Which genes? What proteins do they code for? How is their transfection being targeted to only "steering" neurons? What proportion of their 'optrodes' successfully contact their target neuron? Among other questions... This sounds highly aspirational, not like an actual product or even a proof-of-concept.