When pigs restore sight to the blind: a great discovery!

© Belgemag

The miracle of Bethsaida for the time being was just a story. That a blind man regained his sight after receiving twice the laying on of the hands of the Son of God. Since this episode, visual failure has remained a panacea for those who experienced it.

But today, science can regulate the work of Christ. Researchers from Linköping University in Sweden have just announced the results of a study of patients with keratoconus, a disease of the cornea. This degenerative disease sometimes reduces visual abilities to total blindness.

So far human transplant

Until now, the only way to cure this visual impairment was to receive a cornea transplant from a human donor. A French study published in 2016 indicated that nearly 13 million patients are waiting for this transplant. Only 1 in 70 patients can benefit from this intervention.

From now on, we will no longer have to wait for the plight of some in the hope of regaining our sight. Researchers have developed a method for creating an artificial cornea made of collagen of animal origin. The trial was published on 20 participants from Iran and India. 14 of them were already completely blind. The non-surgical procedure allowed the grafting of collagen particles derived from pig skin injected into the cornea.

Incredible results

The results are promising. All participants saw an improvement in their visual abilities. The three of them even regained perfect vision!

“The results show that it is possible to develop a biomaterial that meets all criteria for use as a human implant, which can be mass-produced and stored for up to two years and thus reach more people with vision problems.”Neil Lagalle, a professor in LiU’s Department of Biomedicine and Clinical Sciences, one of the researchers behind the study.

This discovery may stop the shortage of human corneas. Manufacturers have already sensed the potential of this discovery. “We have done our best to ensure that our invention is widely available and affordable to everyone, not just the wealthy. That is why this technology can be used anywhere in the world”Mehrdad Raafat, associate professor in LiU’s Department of Biomedical Engineering and founder and CEO of LinkoCare Life Sciences AB, which makes the bioengineered corneas used in the study.