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Man-made virus helps blind mice see the light

Posted on: 21 April 2015, source: horizon-magazine.eu
European scientists have reproduced the sensation of sight in blind mice by inserting light-reactive molecules into their optical nerve cells, and are now developing this treatment for use in humans. EU-funded researchers Dr Deniz Dalkara and Dr Jens Duebel at the Vision Institute in Paris, France, have designed a way of adding genes into a mouse's eye so that it responds to light independently of the natural mechinisms of the retina, the part of the eye concerned with light response. They have done this by using a light-sensitive molecule found in single-celled algae, which normally helps the algae swim towards light. The potential of this molecule to activate neurons in other species has been under investigation for years. The Vision Institute researchers have now found a way of capitalising on this, by using a virus to transport the algae-based molecule into the mouse's optical nerve cells.