Action Potential Venture Capital

Medicines have played a critical role in the treatment and cure of diseases since the late 19th century. What started off as perhaps a serendipitous discovery has matured into modern day drug discovery based on ever more complex target identification and validation steps. But while the approach has grown more sophisticated, drug discovery has remained focused on modulating the molecular axis of control (i.e., cell-to-cell signaling or intracellular control) by chemical and (since the 1980s) biological means to restore health. The nervous system with its circuit of neurons using electrical impulses  or action potentials  provides another axis of control in human biology regulating virtually all organs and functions in the body. But despite its potential therapeutic reach, our ability to influence the nervous system and treat disease has remained limited. That is, perhaps, until now. Technological advances have brought us to the cusp of being able to tap into neural circuits that control organs, and thereby intelligently modulate disease states by electrical impulses.