Cognitive Limitations of Optogenetics and a New Perspective on Evolutionary Origin

With its high-precision capability for neuron regulation, optogenetics has become an important research tool in neuroscience and has received major international academic awards. Over more than two decades, researchers have conducted numerous animal experiments using primitive algal photosensitive proteins to achieve optical on-off control of neurons and accumulated abundant application-oriented results. Nevertheless, most existing studies are confined to the tool-based application of ancient exogenous photosensitive proteins. Obvious conceptual solidification and perspective constraints persist. Research remains largely at the level of phenomenon observation and fails to address the evolutionary origin and underlying physical mechanism of bioelectrical systems. Based on the fundamental logic of The Theory of Light Origin and biological evolutionary rules, this paper analyzes existing research deficiencies in optogenetics and puts forward a new academic perspective. Primitive algal photosensitive proteins represent the evolutionary ancestor of bioelectrical signal systems on Earth. Voltage-gated ion channel proteins in higher animals and human beings have evolved through hundreds of millions of iterative differentiation from ancient photosensitive proteins. They share the core mechanism that external stimuli induce protein conformational changes to regulate ion transmembrane flow and generate electrical signals. Differences lie mainly in signal triggering conditions, molecular structures and hierarchical complexity of regulation. This paper argues that future research should reduce low-level repetitive tooloriented animal experiments and shift research focus toward native channel proteins in higher organisms and the underlying mechanisms of bioelectrical conduction, so as to provide new speculative pathways for neuroscience and bioelectrics.