Word.ws English Dictionary

optogenetics

optogenetics 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.

Noun

optogenetics (uncountable)

  1. 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.
    • 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 of optogenetics

(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).

Questions about optogenetics

What does optogenetics mean?
Optogenetics means 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.
What part of speech is optogenetics?
Optogenetics is a noun.

Words near optogenetics in the dictionary

  1. optofluidics
  2. optogalvanic
  3. optogenetic
  4. optogenetical
  5. optogenetically
  6. optogenetics
  7. optogram
  8. optograms
  9. optography
  10. optoinject
  11. optoinjectant

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: optogenetics (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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