User:Rob Hurt/sandbox

Radiogenetics is a technique that uses radio waves to control the activities of genetically-specified populations of cells. Cells, while normally not responsive to radio waves, are made sensitive to them by the introduction of genes that encode: 1) temperature-sensitive ion channels (such as TRPV1), and 2) proteins that become heated when exposed to radio waves (such as ferritin). The transfer of heat from the ferritins to the temperature-sensitive ion channels opens the channels, resulting in ion flux into or out of the cell. An analogous technique, optogenetics, uses visible light instead of radio waves to control cellular activity.