Specific cells (shown here in green) in the retinas of blind mice were engineered to express a light-sensitive protein, giving the mice a rudimentary form of vision.
Credit: Botond Roska, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
New publications, experiments and breakthroughs in biotechnology--and what they mean.
Blind Mice See the Light
Researchers engineer sight into a broken visual
circuit
Source: "Light-Activated Channels Targeted to O.N. Bipolar
Cells Restore Visual Function in Retinal Degeneration"
Botond Roska et al.
Nature Neuroscience
11: 667-675
Results: Blind mice that had been genetically engineered to produce a light-sensitive protein in their retinas developed a rudimentary sense of vision. The mice responded to moving patterns, displaying an ability to resolve fine visual details about half as well as normal mice.
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