Night-Blind Mice Gain Vision

Some night-blind mice can now see in low light, thanks to a new procedure. The mice gained night vision after immature light-detecting cells were injected into their eyes.

The researchers have a long way to go before their technique can be considered for humans, but they are excited that the cells were able not only to survive and integrate with the mice’s native eye cells, but also to forge connections to the brain. These connections allowed the light-detecting cells to send signals into the parts of the brain that turn electrical impulses into vision.

“We show this can result in functional connections and improvement in vision,” said study researcher Robin Ali of the University College London. The model they used was for night blindness, but treatments to replace light-detecting cells in the eyes could help people with many different types of blindness, including advanced macular degeneration.

Ali noted that this was just one step toward developing treatments to replace light-detecting cells in human eyes. “This is a really important proof of concept, but it’s not at a stage we can immediately move to a clinical trial. There are other steps that we need to take,” he told LiveScience.

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