Two very different approaches to restoring vision

One group manipulated biology to correct problems in the transmission of information between the eye and the brain, while another group used electronics to bypass the need for an eye entirely.One of the most exciting developments in tissue repair has been the recognition that we could convert many cell types into stem cells just by activating four specific genes. The researchers use this correspondence and some electronics to try to activate the visual system without involving the eye at all.They rely on a set of electrodes called the Utah Array to make connections with the neurons in this area of the brain. Implanting 16 individual electrodes into one brain is not something that's going to receive approval if the subject is human, but it does what's needed in a research context.The researchers use these implants to not only wire up the area where visual signals reach the brain and are first interpreted; they also plug into the area where those interpretations go on to be processed. And, because of the geometry of this area of the brain, the researchers can control where the flashes of light appear in the visual field.Generally, it worked. We had already known that electrodes placed in the right area of the brain could produce visual artifacts when activated.