blind mice
When I was on jury duty, one of my fellow jurors was a lab tech at USC working on a very impressive project. They use a mouse model to study a genetic condition that causes the photoreceptors (rods and cones) in the retina to degenerate. Where it gets fascinating is that they are able to inject a virus into the cells just below the photoreceptors... this virus inserts a gene for a bacteria opsin photopigment, making these other cells now respond to light... so it's really an "eyesight to the blind" gene therapy in vivo. Apparently, this technique of adding opsins via a virus has been used before in neuroscience to make light-activated neurons in other parts of the body, like the hippocampus, as well.
We live in interesting times.
We live in interesting times.