(ORDO NEWS) — Researchers at the Eye Center at the University of Utah in the United States managed to “wake up” the light-sensitive cells in a person’s eyes five hours after death.
The discovery could potentially increase the shelf life of donor organs and could be a starting point for developing new treatments for certain eye diseases.
In theory, the discovery will help in the future to increase the shelf life of donor eyes.
In a new study published in the journal Nature , scientists measured the activity of retinal cells in both mice and humans shortly after they died.
The researchers found that the loss of photoreceptor connectivity is mainly due to oxygen deprivation. So in the next step, they created a special one to keep cells oxygenated for longer periods of time.
What exactly did the scientists do?
The research team has developed a method to restore oxygenation and other nutrients to eyes taken from organ donors after death.
After that, they created a device to stimulate the retina and measure the electrical activity of its cells. This made it possible to restore the activity of photoreceptors in the part of the retina responsible for the ability to distinguish fine details and colors.
The team believes their work could help reverse some types of blindness. The press release also says that the study could be a starting point in extending the “shelf life” of donor eyes.
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