Nobel-prizewinning breakthroughs can emerge from neglected organisms

Zora Zhang, Kang Lou and Zhenlong Wang write in a Correspondence that Nobel-prize-level breakthroughs can emerge from neglected organisms. Research into how single-celled algae sense light and move toward it uncovered channelrhodopsin proteins, which led to optogenetics, transforming neuroscience and opening new paths to understanding the brain.