« Microbe Mail Visualization | Main | AU KDDI Concept Phones Possibly A Reality »
August 3, 2007
See This Fish!
Zebrafish are cool pet fish, they always swim right up front by the glass in the aquarium. I remember thinking maybe they couldn't see me as most of the other fish always hide.
New research proves quite the contrary. Zebra fish has the ability to regenerate damaged retinas by growing a type of adult stem cell in their eyes. In almost every case of blindness or sight loss both in fish and mammals the retina's ability to send messages to the brain is damaged.
Researchers are blown away by the possibilities and already testing with diseased rats, where they've successfully migrated cells, which took on the existing characteristics. They think within 5 years we will be able to make transplants to the human eye.
I can't help thinking of people that have been completely blind for many years, what if they could get a chance to see!
So cool, it will be exciting to follow this story.
Posted by diverseawareness at 3:14 AM | Permalink