Blindness

Researchers have used 3D nanotechnology to successfully grow human retinal cells, opening the door to a new way of treating age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the developed world.

The largest-ever global genetic study of glaucoma has uncovered more genes associated with the disease, including never-before-identified genes that could be targeted to prevent the optic nerve damage that leads to irreversible blindness.

Using a refined version of the CRISPR gene-editing tool, researchers have restored vision in mice with retinitis pigmentosa. The results may open the door for treatments for the one in 5,000 humans afflicted with the blindness-inducing condition.

It can be difficult for blind people to learn to read braille, as they don't have any way of seeing which character the dots that they're feeling represent. That's where the BrailleWear glove comes in, as it verbally tells them.

One of the leading causes of blindness, age-related macular degeneration causes the center of an older person's vision to become blurry or even completely absent. Arges glasses are designed to help, by relocating the unseen images.

Scientists have grown mini eyes from human cells in the lab. These eye organoids provide good models of the real thing to help scientists study diseases that cause blindness and potentially find treatments.

A cornea implant made out of collagen gathered from pig skin has restored the vision of volunteers in a landmark study. Pending further testing, the novel implant is hoped to improve the vision of millions waiting for difficult transplant surgeries.

Scientists in Europe have discovered a molecular “zipper” mechanism that can lead to cell death in the genetic disease retinitis pigmentosa. The good news is that injecting certain proteins could slow or prevent vision impairment from the disease.

Cataracts are one of the most common forms of vision impairment, and unfortunately surgery is the only real treatment. But the clouds may be parting on a new drug treatment, improving the vision of the majority of mice it was tested on.

Although many of us may have forgotten about Google Glass, the technology is now the base of a set of glasses designed to assist the blind. Known as Envision Glasses, they utilize AI to verbally tell their wearer what they're looking at.

If diabetes progresses too far, it can result in a potentially blinding condition known as retinopathy. And while existing treatments are invasive and often painful, there may be new hope in the form of an LED-equipped contact lens.

There may be new hope for people with certain types of blindness, as an experimental sight-restoring device has been deemed safe for implantation. It still has to be tested on humans, though, and it will likely provide a rudimentary form of vision.