A new method of inserting genes into brain cells could simplify the search for brain-disorder treatments, according to research. It uses an array of ­electrodes, each 100 ­micrometers wide, to inject genetic material into individual neurons. The ­technique’s inventor thinks it could be the key to examining thousands of genes for answers to vexing ­neurological problems, with the hope of one day ­performing gene therapy in the brain.

Gene therapy involves ­inserting genetic material into a ­malfunctioning cell to alter its activities and cure disease. Doing this in the brain would be particularly challenging, mainly because very little is known about how networks of neurons function or how to safely alter the components of such a network.

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