• 'Stunning' operation activates stem cells in the eye to regenerate the lens and restore sight
    31 replies, posted
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35762713[/url] [quote]A pioneering procedure to regenerate the eye has successfully treated children with cataracts in China. More than half of all cases of blindness are caused by cataracts - the clouding of the eye's lens. An implanted lens is normally needed to restore sight, but the operation described in Nature activated stem cells in the eye to grow a new one. Experts describe the breakthrough as one of the finest achievements in regenerative medicine.[/quote]
Is it just for treating children with cataracts (whatever that is), or could it possibly be a new type of treatment for fixing eyesight? As opposed to laser eye surgery, or glasses.
Cool. Will we be able to regenerate eyes next?
[QUOTE=TheNerdPest14;49901113]Cool. Will we be able to regenerate eyes next?[/QUOTE] For whatever reason you put a vivid image in my head of eyes growing back into someone's face
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;49901112]Is it just for treating children with cataracts (whatever that is), or could it possibly be a new type of treatment for fixing eyesight? As opposed to laser eye surgery, or glasses.[/QUOTE] Well, shit like near/far-sightedness is caused by deformation of the lens or the eye itself, so I doubt it. It would be nice though. I'm a little sick of wearing glasses, to tell you the truth.
As a (technical) cyborg who was augmented by cataract surgery, this is fucking awesome.
holy fucking shit, imagine never seeing then you know seeing, like uhh holy fuck
[QUOTE=Lollipoopdeck;49902296]holy fucking shit, imagine never seeing then you know seeing, like uhh holy fuck[/QUOTE] Might be hard to pull off since the longer you don't see the less time The brain can develop to be able to put eyes to good use.
I wonder if it can fix visual snow. Not that it matters, actual blindness or other visual impairments are usually much worse. Still annoying to have, it's like living in a TV.
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;49901112]cataracts (whatever that is)[/QUOTE] Do you really not know what cataracts are or how life changing they can be?
[QUOTE=Elstumpo;49902455]Might be hard to pull off since the longer you don't see the less time The brain can develop to be able to put eyes to good use.[/QUOTE] The brain and eyes do some wild shit. A guy wore a pair of goggles with mirrors and shit in them so that everything he saw was upside down, within a week his brain automatically righted the images the correct orientation (Like it does by default) Then he had to do it again without the goggles
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;49902514]I wonder if it can fix visual snow. Not that it matters, actual blindness or other visual impairments are usually much worse. Still annoying to have, it's like living in a TV.[/QUOTE] Visual snow sucks, I have colored visual snow and I'm almost blind in low-light environments because of it. Which is funky because otherwise my eyesight is 2.0 in tests.
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;49902514]I wonder if it can fix visual snow. Not that it matters, actual blindness or other visual impairments are usually much worse. Still annoying to have, it's like living in a TV.[/QUOTE] It's possible; stemcells are pretty amazing. But I doubt it's going to be a priority for quite some time.
hm, so I guess china doesnt have to deal with all the stem cell controversy thats stopping research over hear. I suppose thats one upside to a more authoritarian goverment.
Ahahaha when I was working with an ophthalmologist who specialized in cataract surgery and glaucoma I was thinking of going into research instead of clinical so I could figure out a way to fix cataracts without the need of surgery. Guess I don't have to now. Of course unless there's an ocular lens lobby somewhere that tries to shut this down or something. Or the stem cell procedure being prohibitively expensive and/or riskier than lens replacement. [editline]10th March 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=sam6420;49905877]Could this potentially help with being colorblind? Or is a lens different from a cone..?[/QUOTE] Different thing. The rod and cone cells are in a layer in the back of the eye, the lens is towards the front just behind the iris. Briefly skimming the article title led me to believe this was repairing retinal cells, which would be even more tremendous, but the lens is a good start.
I hope ear hair regeneration comes next :magic101:
[QUOTE=Elstumpo;49902455]Might be hard to pull off since the longer you don't see the less time The brain can develop to be able to put eyes to good use.[/QUOTE] Brains are plastic anyway.
I have some visual snow in dark places, but not sure if that is just normal because we cannot see in such dark areas. I do have one problem, well I think it is a problem.. if I'm in a dark room and I move around anything with a small light on it, I can see a trail following behind it? Is that normal? Same with my mouse in front of me.. My mouse has an led light, but if I move my eyes left and right from it I see a streak of light follow the direction my eyes go.
[QUOTE=Mr. Agree;49915830]I have some visual snow in dark places, but not sure if that is just normal because we cannot see in such dark areas. I do have one problem, well I think it is a problem.. if I'm in a dark room and I move around anything with a small light on it, I can see a trail following behind it? Is that normal? Same with my mouse in front of me.. My mouse has an led light, but if I move my eyes left and right from it I see a streak of light follow the direction my eyes go.[/QUOTE] I get all those things but I also have astigmatism (which I thought was spelt stygmatism until I googled it just then).
Wonder if this would work for retinal detachment, currently im considering contact plants but I'd like not to get them.
[QUOTE=Fourier;49906731]Brains are plastic anyway.[/QUOTE] The shoddy ones they make these days are. Give me a blackwood brain with red leather accents, that's a proper brain.
[QUOTE=Mr. Agree;49915830]I have some visual snow in dark places, but not sure if that is just normal because we cannot see in such dark areas. I do have one problem, well I think it is a problem.. if I'm in a dark room and I move around anything with a small light on it, I can see a trail following behind it? Is that normal? Same with my mouse in front of me.. My mouse has an led light, but if I move my eyes left and right from it I see a streak of light follow the direction my eyes go.[/QUOTE] This is normal. By the way, did you took any hallucinogens? Those drugs tend to make this type of visuals worse/more obvious.
[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;49916367]Wonder if this would work for retinal detachment, currently im considering contact plants but I'd like not to get them.[/QUOTE] they were only capable of regenerating lens protein for now, but other research projects are working on being able to patch up retinal damage, by using stem cells to mimic the development of an eye. Could be a while before that comes to pass.
[QUOTE=Mr. Agree;49915830]I do have one problem, well I think it is a problem.. if I'm in a dark room and I move around anything with a small light on it, I can see a trail following behind it? Is that normal?[/QUOTE] Normal, that's why kids (and adults) with sparklers wave them around rapidly, it makes a pretty light trail.
nice to see medical innovation from cooperation of Chinese and US universities ... in way what one actually call progress for mankind as whole ...
[QUOTE=Mr. Agree;49915830]I have some visual snow in dark places, but not sure if that is just normal because we cannot see in such dark areas. I do have one problem, well I think it is a problem.. if I'm in a dark room and I move around anything with a small light on it, I can see a trail following behind it? Is that normal? Same with my mouse in front of me.. My mouse has an led light, but if I move my eyes left and right from it I see a streak of light follow the direction my eyes go.[/QUOTE] Everyone has visual snow to some degree. The brain just filters it out- or tries to anyways. I think we too often compare our vision to modern cameras.
[QUOTE=Mr.Moustachio;49905862]hm, so I guess china doesnt have to deal with all the stem cell controversy thats stopping research over hear. I suppose thats one upside to a more authoritarian goverment.[/QUOTE] It's not actually using stem cell's from other parts of the body, they basically cut out a very precise piece of the lens in the eye and leave the "lens capsule" intact. Apparently it contains stem cell's that are used for regenerating the eye. Actually i'm surprised it took thing long for them to figure out, I assume finding out about the eyes regenerative abilities only happened recently. Kinda depressing to think about all the eye surgeries that removed this vital part since the article says it could even be used to regenerate the "cornea, conjunctiva, lens and retina" meaning anyone who already got eye surgery wouldn't be able to avail of this new technique.
[QUOTE=Dwarden;49919030]nice to see medical innovation from cooperation of Chinese and US universities ... in way what one actually call progress for mankind as whole ...[/QUOTE] I wouldn't count on any further cooperation as long as congress is the way it is.
[QUOTE=Elstumpo;49923590]Everyone has visual snow to some degree. The brain just filters it out- or tries to anyways. I think we too often compare our vision to modern cameras.[/QUOTE] I remember before Christmas I accidentally shined my phone's light into my eye (which is very bright) and I blinked a lot (worst thing you can do) and started seeing a lot of 3d looking webs around me, it was freaky. Thought I was going blind, but turned out to be the veins in my eye reflecting back, some sort of illusion. Since then though, I do have this floater in my eye. It's a very light shade of black and I only notice it when staring at white. When I move my eye to the left, it follows the direction of my eye. Not had anything else, but hoping it isn't damage from shining the light at my eye.
^ Okay that above thing sounds slightly concerning, if the phone light left some longer lasting spot in your vision/eye. [QUOTE=Mr. Agree;49915830]I have some visual snow in dark places, but not sure if that is just normal because we cannot see in such dark areas. I do have one problem, well I think it is a problem.. if I'm in a dark room and I move around anything with a small light on it, I can see a trail following behind it? Is that normal? Same with my mouse in front of me.. My mouse has an led light, but if I move my eyes left and right from it I see a streak of light follow the direction my eyes go.[/QUOTE] Do you see fine in normal daylight? Are you happy with your vision, in daylight? If so, there is probably no problem. And you know, it's in our instincts to keep an eye for any and all movements around us, even when there is none. It will create movement for you. If you "zone" out and stare too long at something, things will start to vibrate because your brain doesn't like how everything's too still. Your brain is expecting movements to which it can react to, like a predator or some snake springing from the bushes.
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