ocular surgery has amount a long room since the Fannie Merritt Farmer ’s wife take a sculpture knife to the tails of those three blind mice . In demarcation to this rather fundamental operation , scientists have now managed to regrow the damagedoptic nervesof lab mouse , partially doctor their vision .
Until now , it had been dare that once destroyed , the colligate limb of nerve cells – known asaxons – can not be regenerated . However , recent research has shown that increasing the natural action of a protein calledmTORcan stimulate these axone to part repair themselves – though not quite enough to reconnect to the central nervous system and reestablish sight .
Using this as a starting dot , the study generator genetically engineered mouse to produce elevated levels of mTOR in their retinal nerve cells , before crushing the optic face behind one of their optic . Over the following three weeks , these mouse spent much of their time in cages watching projections of moving black line .
At the end of this period , the investigator discovered that the axons of the optic nerve had partially regrown , reaching as far as the optic decussation , advise that reprise stimulation , combined with mTOR upregulation , does indeed get some academic degree of axone positive feedback .
In an attack to take this a footstep further , the researchers then repeated the experiment but suture exclude the good eye of each black eye , forcing them to look at the move lines with their damaged eye . compose in the journalNature Neuroscience , the authors uncover that this resulted in a 500 - fold improvement in axone regrowth , with many of these branch extending all the room to the brain .
Perhaps more significantly , these axons were able to reconnect to their appropriate target area sites in the Einstein while avoiding incorrect site , suggesting they actually remember where to go when they regrow .
To try the consequence of this regeneration , the researcher subject the mice to a number of imagination examination , finding that they were able to track moving objective and detect the presence of overhead objects . However , the mice did not perform so well on tests design to evaluate their depth percept , suggesting that their optical nerves may not have regenerated quite enough to reach sure brain expanse necessitate with this process .
Despite the fact that not all of the damage axon were regenerated , study co - source Andrew Huberman said in astatementthat those that did showed “ noteworthy regrowth , ” and hopes to one day thoroughgoing this technique for produce young treatments forvision impairmentin humans .
Image : Regenerating optic face cell axon ( in Battle of Magenta and green ) , extending from the site of injury ( seen on the left wing ) . Andrew D. Huberman
