Questa notizia mi è stata appena inviata dal mio carissimo amico, nonchè follower di questo blog, Maladomini.
In breve, un gruppo di ricercatori ha decifrato il codice di impulsi elettrici che la retina utilizza per trasmettere le informazioni visive che noi percepiamo con la visione.
Qui di seguito riporto l'articolo in lingua originale. Appena avrò un minuto pubblicherò una mia traduzione dell'articolo!
Articolo tratto da:
Researchers at Cornell University claim to have
found the neural code to restore vision for those to have lost their
vision due to retina defects.
For the first time, researchers were able to decipher the code a
natural retina that is then converted into electrical impulses sent by
the retina's output cells to the brain. According to the scientists,
typical retina diseases destroy the retina's photoreceptors and the
associated circuitry to convert the light impulses. As long as the
output cells, or ganglion cells, are still intact - which is the usual
case with a retina disease - the deciphering of the retina code enables
the construction of chip implants that, in theory, restores vision.
So far, the researchers claim, the concept has worked to help blind
mice see again. They also claim to have "cracked" the code of a monkey
retina, "which is essentially identical to that of a human". The hope is
that 25 million people who are blind because of a retina disease will
be able to see again. The researchers believe that their device can
provide a "near normal" ability to see.
According to the project, an "encoder" chip can be used to convert
natural images received by the eye into "streams of electrical
impulses", while a mini-projector is deployed to converts these
electrical impulses to light impulses. The researcher found that
light-sensitive proteins that are placed in the ganglion cells enable a
transmission of the code to the brain.
The researchers said that their prosthetic will undergo human
clinical trials, which aims to ensure the safety of the necessary gene
therapy to integrate the light-sensitive protein. There was no
information when this technology could become available, but clinical
trials typically take several years until completed.
