New Tool Will Help Expand Scope of Neural Circuit Research

Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus and University of California, Berkeley have developed a powerful new tool for neuroscientists—a viral vector called rAAV2-retro, which efficiently enters and travels through the long neuronal projections that connect different regions of the brain. Genetically-encoded tools for labeling cells or monitoring or manipulating their activity can be packaged inside the virus and delivered to groups of neurons that signal to a specific part of the brain, creating new opportunities to study large-scale neural networks.