Release date: 2016-02-29 According to a technical review report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, doctors in Texas are planning to use groundbreaking neuroscience to restore vision in blind people. RetroSense Therapeutics, based in Ann Arbor, tried to modify neurons by a technique called optogenetics to "open" or "close" them with light. It is understood that this technology has been verified in mice and monkeys, but this will be the first time it has been applied to humans. The technical review report said that the Southwest Retina Foundation will be involved in the experiment involving 15 patients with retinitis pigmentosa. Photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye of a person with this disease will degenerate, causing the patient to lose the ability of peripheral vision and night vision, eventually blinding. Using light to treat blindness Previously, scientists have used "optogenetics" technology to successfully remove the fear memory in the brain of mice. "Optogenetics" involves the use of viruses to infect cells in the brain that carry a light-sensitive protein found in algae. Once cells are infected, they will be "opened" or "closed" by light of a certain color or wavelength. Often, scientists must have fiber-optic cables in their brains to access these photoreceptors. From this perspective, the eye is an ideal target for using this therapy because it is already exposed to light and does not require any cables or brain surgery. According to the plan, the doctor will inject the virus containing the light-sensitive gene into the ganglion cells in the patient's eyes, which will transmit signals from the retina to the brain. Because the patient's retina is damaged, doctors hope to bypass these cells and let the ganglion cells respond directly to light. In addition, patients with retinitis pigmentosa who received this experiment were not completely blind, but they could only see the hand waving in front of themselves. Sean Ainsworth, CEO of RetroSense Therapeutics, said in an interview with the media that he hopes the treatment will allow patients to see tables and chairs even to the extent that they can read large fonts. The beginning of new brain therapy However, it should be noted that this light-sensitive protein present in algae can only respond to light of a single color. Scientists believe that even if patients successfully restore vision through this treatment, they can only see a single color world. So far, we don't know how they perceive color, and we can't confirm that they can really see colors other than black. The success of this experiment remains to be seen, but its application prospects are very exciting. At present, scientists have begun to explore the use of "optogenetics" technology to treat other diseases, such as Parkinson's disease. The neuroscientist and science director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse said that this new technology is faster than we think. In the next five years, we may be able to treat brain diseases with "optogenetics" technology. Source: cnbeta website (Taizhou) Dried Fruit,Freeze Dried Strawberries,Dehydrated Fruit,Dried Goji Berries Xi'an Gawen Biotechnology Co., Ltd , https://www.seoagolyn.com