Her work focuses on developing technologies such as optogenetics (using light to control genetically modified cells) and tissue clearing (that can render rodent tissues and bodies transparent via PARS CLARITY). Most recently, she and her team have discovered how to modify the protein shell of a harmless virus to successfully enter the adult mouse brain from the bloodstream—crossing the so-called blood-brain barrier—and deliver genes to cells of the nervous system. Gradinaru employs these technologies for mapping and modulating brain networks to understand and develop therapies for neurological diseases.