Neurotechnology is a rapidly advancing field. In spite of the mammoth resources needed to perform a neurological experiment – biologists, physicists, surgeons, geneticists, and maybe even ecologists – people from diverse fields are coming together to understand the mind and how to control it through the manipulation of the brain.

As this is being written, a scientist in MIT’s Neuroengineering and Neuromedia Lab is using harmless viruses to replace certain DNA sequences in the brains of rats that respond to light, allowing them to control neuron groups via “light switches”. The effect is surprising as they control the rat’s behavior remotely through the mere application of blue light.

Along with an understanding of how the brain works, scientists are likely to gain a deep appreciation of what it is that makes us human and what makes our mind the way it is. The implications are enormous – right from Artificial intelligence (AI) to creating effective treatments for psychological disorders such as manic depression. Yet another field where angles fear to tread, is the manipulation of embryos in order to create “designer babies” that have specific mental abilities and traits.

But ethical questions aside, these barriers are breaking down every day – powerless against the force of science. And when they break, you will read about it on this blog – for the latest on the neurotechnology industry.