RetGen

Using mouse cells, the researchers found that melanopsin could be used to make neurones light responsive. They found that as well as being sensitive to blue light, melanopsin uses light at different wavelengths to regenerate itself. In some forms of hereditary blindness photoreceptors are lost entirely, but the retinal ganglion cells, the cells which signal to the brain, remain intact. The researchers believe that by activating the melanopsin, these cells may gain the ability to sense and respond to light.
'Researchers discover way to make cells in the eye sensitive to light' (Imperial College Press Release at EurekAlert January 2005).