UCSD press release: http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/stem_cells_regenerate_...
Nature abstract: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v531/n7594/full/nature1...
Obligatory Nature paper DOI ident for sci-hub lookup: doi:10.1038/nature17181
This is absolutely possible. I know a woman who's entire eye was removed when she was a child, and it grew back completely about 30 years later. No one quite understands why (or why it took 30 years), but the human body is full of surprises.
As I understand the matter, these sorts of interventions have/should be done as soon as possible after birth. The developing brain needs the visual feedback to develop vision properly. So it is good news to see them focusing on younger patients.
My son did the older surgery when he was a newborn. I just wish we had to do this surgery now instead (or if we can benefit in anyway from this new technique.)
Note: did the surgery at "Associated Retinal Consultants." I can't read this without getting too emotional, and am not sure if this is considered a totally new thing or if we just missed out on this possibility then.
So since eyes don't grow in size from birth, could everyone have their lens removed early on to be saved as a potential replacement for later on in life? Would there be any benefit to doing this since there's already operations such as lasyk?
I feel bad for whichever newborn needed such surgery :(
It'll be great if they can do this for older people eventually, so we don't need to wear reading glasses.
Maybe it is based on stem cell availability?
Younger you are, more you have?
Guess they would have figured that out though.
A good, another use for newborns!
Don't use corticosteroids, folks. They are known to cause cataracts, but they can also destroy your eyes by causing central serous retinopathy.
This means don't use allergy sprays. It's not worth ruining your vision. Don't get steroid shots for orthopedic pain; they don't work in the long term, and can even cause more harm. There's a CSR Yahoo group, and every week there's another person joining and saying, "I got a Prednisone shot and now there's a giant brown circle in the middle of my vision."
The damage ranges from "minor" to people who are essentially blind; and older literature calls it ideopathic, but the role of corticosteroids is an accepted fact among retinal specialists. And yet there are NO WARNINGS on packages about it.
The FDA at work.
I had to have my lenses removed from both eyes when I was a child (in the 70s). The problem in my case was that they were dislocated.
Since the surgery, I wore very thick glasses to correct it. I switched to contacts in the early 80s (contact lens tech was barely viable by then) augmented with reading glasses.
Today I wear contacts to get to 20/20 or 20/30, and reading glasses for computer work or reading. My correction is around +8.25 or so for each eye.
This is very exciting news and I hope kids don't have to go through the pain of wearing super thick glasses growing up.