Femtosecond laser dissection in <i>C. elegans</i> neural circuits

Aravinthan D. T. Samuel; Samuel H. Chung; Damon A. Clark; Christopher V. Gabel; Chieh Chang; Venkatesh Murthy; Eric Mazur

doi:10.1117/12.657396

10 February 2006 Femtosecond laser dissection in C. elegans neural circuits

Aravinthan D. T. Samuel, Samuel H. Chung, Damon A. Clark, Christopher V. Gabel, Chieh Chang, Venkatesh Murthy, Eric Mazur

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6108, Commercial and Biomedical Applications of Ultrafast Lasers VI; 610801 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.657396
Event: Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering, 2006, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

The nematode C. elegans, a millimeter-long roundworm, is a well-established model organism for studies of neural development and behavior, however physiological methods to manipulate and monitor the activity of its neural network have lagged behind the development of powerful methods in genetics and molecular biology. The small size and transparency of C. elegans make the worm an ideal test-bed for the development of physiological methods derived from optics and microscopy. We present the development and application of a new physiological tool: femtosecond laser dissection, which allows us to selectively ablate segments of individual neural fibers within live C. elegans. Femtosecond laser dissection provides a scalpel with submicrometer resolution, and we discuss its application in studies of neural growth, regenerative growth, and the neural basis of behavior.

Citation Download Citation

Aravinthan D. T. Samuel, Samuel H. Chung, Damon A. Clark, Christopher V. Gabel, Chieh Chang, Venkatesh Murthy, and Eric Mazur "Femtosecond laser dissection in C. elegans neural circuits", Proc. SPIE 6108, Commercial and Biomedical Applications of Ultrafast Lasers VI, 610801 (10 February 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.657396

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