Contact lenses made with millions of gold nanoparticles, no bigger than a speck of dust, could combat a common type of colour blindness. These ‘gold dust’ particles filter out certain wavelengths of light, so the brain can distinguish between different colours, particularly reds and greens, more easily. Around one in 12 men and one in … Read more
Form of hereditary blindness can be cured in BOTH eyes ‘by injecting modified DNA into one of them’ to fix a faulty genetic mutation, study finds Researchers injected modified DNA into the back on one eye of a LHON patient In 78 per cent of cases, blindness was cured in both eyes, the researchers found Jab … Read more
It has been more than 10 years in the making, but scientists are preparing to implant a ‘bionic eye’ in a human subject. Researchers at Monash University have developed wireless implants that sit on the surface of the brain, which are said to restore vision to the blind. Called Gennaris bionic vision system, it includes … Read more
For a plant with such a terrifying reputation, giant hogweed has some very eminent admirers — the Queen seemingly among them. Guests at Buckingham Palace garden parties have reported seeing several towering over the lake there. Now that Boris Johnson — with Her Majesty’s permission — goes for early morning jogs round the Palace gardens, … Read more
At 77 years old, Lynda La Plante is still a furious workaholic, bursting with energy and at her desk by 7.30 every morning to work on novels and TV scripts. Even in self-isolation — as she is now at home in Surrey — the UK’s most celebrated female crime author carries on weaving her dark … Read more
Hyacinths could lead to a cure for blindness ‘because they contain potent compounds that stop growth of abnormal blood vessels in the eyes’ The unexpected growth of blood vessel cells in the eyes is linked to blindness Tests found homoisoflavonoids can halt the growth of abnormal blood vessels Researchers say they could create synthetic versions … Read more
Number of people with the leading cause of blindness will rise by 10million in Europe by 2050 ‘because people are living longer’ Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affected 67million Europeans in 2015 It causes blind spots to appear in the eyes as the macula wears down and fails Ageing populations mean the condition will become more … Read more
Scientists on the cusp of curing blindness with pioneering treatment that injects stem cells into the back of patients’ eyeballs British firm reported early success with procedure that repairs damaged retina Treatment involves growing billions of ‘progenitor’ stem cells in a laboratory Have the ability to transform themselves into other types of cell There is … Read more
Scientists say they have used the gene editing tool CRISPR inside someone’s body for the first time, a new frontier for efforts to operate on DNA, the chemical code of life, to treat diseases. A patient recently had it done at the Casey Eye Institute at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland for an … Read more