channelrhodopsin

English

Etymology

From channel +‎ rhodopsin.

Noun

channelrhodopsin (countable and uncountable, plural channelrhodopsins)

1. An opsin protein that controls phototaxis in unicellular green algae.
   • 2007 August 14, Ingfei Chen, “The Beam of Light That Flips a Switch That Turns on the Brain”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     The channelrhodopsin switch is “really going to blow the lid off the whole analysis of brain function,” said George Augustine, a neurobiologist at Duke University in Durham, N.C.

   • 2021 July, Anthony David, “Knowing Me Knowing You”, in The Literary Review:

     The key is a light-activated protein called channelrhodopsin, the DNA-encoded gene for producing which can be delivered across species into brain cells.