optogenetics

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noun

A science that combines optics and genetics, aiming at controlling cellular processes with light. The cells are made responsive to light using genetics and then activated using specific wavelengths.

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Meanings

nounoptogenetics (uncountable)
  1. uncountablebiologyA science that combines optics and genetics, aiming at controlling cellular processes with light. The cells are made responsive to light using genetics and then activated using specific wavelengths.

    It is the exquisite precision that can be achieved, without any destruction, that renders optogenetics such a powerful tool.

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

Origin

(2006) Coined from optics and genetics by Karl Deisseroth and Mark J. Schnitzer in a review paper (K. Deisseroth, G. Feng, A. K. Majewska, G. Miesenböck, A. Ting, M. J. Schnitzer, Next-Generation Optical Technologies for Illuminating Genetically Targeted Brain Circuits, Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 26, no. 41 (October 2006), pp. 10380–6).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French optogénétique
  • optogénétiquescience that combines optics and genetics
Cite this entry
APA

optogenetics. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/optogenetics

MLA

“optogenetics.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/optogenetics. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “optogenetics,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/optogenetics.

Source: optogenetics on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.