Publications
Leading revolutionary scientific research for a brighter futureNews Articles
Fat Cells Can Sense Sunlight.
Fat Cells Can Sense Sunlight. Not Getting Enough Can Disrupt Metabolism | Research Horizons (cincinnatichildrens.org)
Metabolic Syndrome and Sunlight
Sun Exposure Triggers Hunger in Men but Not Women, Study Suggests | The Scientist Magazine® (the-scientist.com)
Circadian Light Exposure
The Quest by Circadian Medicine to Make the Most of Our Body Clocks - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Blog Posts
Skin Keeps Time Independent of the Brain
The study is the first functional demonstration of opsin photoreceptors outside the eye directly controlling circadian rhythms in a mammal. The finding opens doors for using light to accelerate wound healing. The research conducted in the Lang Laboratory centers...
Can this Discovery Prevent the Need for Eyeglasses?
Myopia affects about 1 in 3 Americans and even more in other parts of the world. A study in PNAS reports that increased exposure to violet light prevents myopia progression in mice. The research conducted in the Lang Laboratory centers around eye development.
A Novel Science Leads to Innovative NICU Design
It has been found that Opsins deep within the brain directly sense specific wavelengths of light that are found in sunlight but not in artificial lights. Coupled with other discoveries about the importance of circadian rhythms to human health led the idea for...
Scientific Publications
A Discovery that can Prevent the need for Eyeglasses
Myopia has become a major public health concern, particularly across much of Asia. It has been shown in multiple studies that outdoor activity has a protective effect on myopia. Recent reports have shown that short-wavelength visible violet light is the component of...
Violet-light suppression of thermogenesis by Opsin 5
Here we describe a light-sensing pathway in which POA neurons that express Opn5 regulate thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT). We show that Opn5 is expressed in glutamatergic warm-sensing POA neurons that receive synaptic input from several thermoregulatory...
Adaptive Thermogenesis in Mice Is Enhanced by Opsin 3
Here we describe a light response pathway in mice that employs encephalopsin (OPN3, a 480 nm, blue-light-responsive opsin) to regulate the function of adipocytes. Germline null and adipocyte-specific conditional null mice show a light- and Opn3-dependent deficit in...