藻類植物基因讓人重獲光明

Researchers believe they may be able to replace damaged cells in the retina with similar ones found in algae. The technique has worked in mice and now scientists believe they can begin human trials within two years。

"The idea is to develop a treatment for blindness," Alan Horsager, at the University of southern California, told the New Scientist。

More than a million people in Britain suffer from vision problems caused by a damaged or malfunctioning retinas。

The retina is the "business end" of the eye, where nerve cells convert light into electrical and chemical signals that are sent to the brain down the optic nerve. If it is not working then the eye is useless。

Algae need to be sensitive to light so they can seek out sunlight for photosynthesis and it is the cells they use to do this that scientists hope to use to replenish damaged equivalents in the human eye。

It involves injecting the gene into the retina. Early tests showed that blind mice were able to see light again after treatment and that the effect appears to be permanent。

"It's good on paper, and it is clear they are heading for a clinical trial with the information they are gathering. The question is how good is it going to be? Just light/dark or are people going to be able to read large texts," said Pete Coffey, at University College London。研究人員認爲藻類植物體內的某種細胞可以用來替換視網膜中受損的細胞。據悉，這項技術已經在小白鼠身上取得成功，科學家認爲兩年內可以將其應用於人體試驗。

南加州大學的阿蘭•霍爾薩格爾在接受《新科學家》雜誌採訪時說：“藉此，將開發出治療失明的新療法。”

有一百多萬的英國人人因視網膜受損或機能失常而視力受損。

視網膜是眼睛的"運作終端"，膜上的神經細胞將進入眼球的光轉化爲電信號和化學信號，然後經過視覺神經傳輸給大腦。如果喪失了這種機能，人就無法看到東西。

而藻類植物需要通過光合作用將太陽光轉化爲所需能量，所以它們必須對光非常敏感。科學家正是利用了這種細胞的特性來試圖修復人眼受損細胞。

做這項實驗首先需將從藻類植物中提取的基因注射進視網膜上的神經細胞中。早期的試驗證明經過治療的小白鼠又能重見光明，治療效果也比較持久。

倫敦大學學院的皮特•科菲說：“理論上講這個方法還是不錯，研究人員在收集了相關信息基礎上，正在積極策劃進行臨牀試驗。但問題是這種技術究竟如何？只是讓人產生光感，還是能讓人看到更清晰的事物？”