I am currently at the Optogenetics + 2023 conference in St. Petersburg.
? "Scientists should constantly improve themselves [in various ways] by participating in schools and conferences, as they offer continuous education and individual experience that form a scientist as a specialist in their field"
? I was pleasantly impressed by the excellent organization and motivated people around me, the cozy atmosphere and the fascinating topics of the reports

Days 1&2. Lectures
The lectures were devoted to research on creation of the new optogenetics tools for studying and controlling processes in neural cells. Also there were reports and posters about optogenetic approaches to the treatment of epilepsy, which I found to be amazing.

Day 3. School on Modern Methods of Invasive Neural Activity Control
Simultaneously with the Conference, the School on Modern Methods of Non-Invasive Control of Neuronal Activity took place. It included several master classes on the use of modern methods of optogenetics in scientific research.

? Optogenetic approaches in the study of epilepsy and the control of seizure activity | https://youtu.be/52a9cdrp4jU
? Optical control of glutamate ionotropic neurons' receptors in rats | https://youtu.be/fJ8XPneJDkk
? Methodology in the study of prospects for optogenetic vision prosthetics | https://youtu.be/MRz_wEFQq1M

I chose the first master class. We practiced a fascinating ontogenetic method of surgically injecting a viral vector of fluorescent protein to mark certain neurons for histology or (if this vector was connected with rodopsine vector) for causing de-/hyperpolarization ex vivo.

? Optogenetics + 2023 on YouTube | https://youtube.com/@iephb

#conference #confoptogenetics