Heartbeats: At the speed of light

Relatively new field of optogenetics may offer solutions for cardiac arrhythmiaSeptember 19, 2013 With a few flicks of a light switch--on-off-on-off--Stanford University's Oscar Abilez is one step closer to changing the lives of millions. Why? Because as a focused speck of light turns on and off in Abilez's lab, a cluster of heart cells begins to expand and contract. He demonstrates that he can control the rhythm of a heart using just light. Currently, 4 million Americans suffer from some degree of cardiac arrhythmia, wherein a person's heart beats too slowly, too quickly or at