Microchips Implanted in Retinas Restore (Some) Eyesight to the Blind
In an exciting pilot study, blind people equipped with microchips in their retinas were able to see again--at least dimly--and were able to make out shapes.
Ed Yong explains how the experiment helped a study participant named Miikka:
In people like Miikka with retinitis pigmentosa, the light-detecting cells of the retina break down with age. Eberhart Zrenner and a team of German scientists have designed a chip that does the same job as these defunct cells. Just a few millimetres across, it cont