NIH funds UT Arlington researchers using light to control and monitor neural activity

University of Texas at Arlington researchers are exploring a better method for initiating certain gene therapies that could better fight the sight-deteriorating disease retinitis pigmentosa. The National Institutes of Health is funding the research. Samarendra Mohanty, assistant professor of physics, expects to receive a total of $384,269 over the next two years from the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. His work involves using a near-infrared ultrafast laser beam to deliver genes that allow expression of light-sensitive proteins, called opsins, in