Geneticists are experimenting with algae genes that produce light sensitive proteins by putting them into the retinal cells of mice. They hope that with more success they can figure out how to cure vision problems in humans! People with retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration have damaged photoreceptors that prevent their eyes from transforming light into electrical impulses that get sent to the brain. This results in blindness. Scientists hope that they can use this gene to increase the light sensitivity of people’s eyes and reverse the effects of blindness. So far, the treatment has worked on mice. Blind mice improved their performance in mazes after the treatment.
Certain kinds of unicellular algae produce a protein called Channelrhodopsin-2 that helps them find light. Scientists have used the gene that produces that protein in a “tame” virus. They then injected that virus into the blind mice’s retinas. The virus transferred the gene to the retinal cells, and the gene produced the protein in the mice’s eyes. Overall, it was a huge success. The mice were able to see their way through mazes faster, there were no signs that the virus spread to any part of their bodies outside of their retinas, and the effects of the treatment are expected to be permanent, so they won’t need to do it again.
You can read more about this discovery in this article.
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