Revolutionary Calcium Sensors Enhance Neuronal Imaging Capabilities

Researchers have developed GCaMP8, a genetically encoded calcium indicator that can detect individual action potentials in single neurons with fast kinetics and high accuracy. The new sensors avoid the typical trade-off between sensitivity and speed, and can detect changes in calcium in time frames of tens of milliseconds. The development of GCaMP8 will enable researchers to analyse phenomena in live animals that could previously have been studied only by using electrical measurements or genetically encoded voltage indicators.