A new genetic therapy that helped blind mice and dogs respond to light stimulus could restore sight to people who suffer from diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa (a gradual loss of vision from periphery inwards). The therapy uses chemicals known as photoswitches, which change shape when hit with light, to open the channels that activate retinal cells. Treated mice can distinguish between steady and flashing light, while dogs with late-stage retinal degeneration also regain some sensitivity to light. The procedure starts with an adeno-associated virus. Some retina cells in blind mice survive after disease kills the rod and cone photoreceptors, but they won't work on their own. The virus inserts a gene that instructs the cells to produce a modified version of a common glutamate receptor ion channel. Then photoswitches are attached to the newly-formed ion channels, akin to a glutamate amino acid dangling on a light-sensitive string. When light hits a photoswitch, it forces an ion channel open, thereby turning the retinal neurons on and off many times a second. The researchers are able to insert the gene into almost all of the million or so retinal ganglion cells, which should restore useful vision. The success of this therapy … Continue reading →

I recently had the pleasure of hearing futurist Raymond Kurzweil speak at an SFU Public Square event in Vancouver. I have a big soft spot for him, ever since he invented the Kurzweil Reading Machine in the 1970s. It was a boon to the blind and people with poor eyesight, and opened the door for many other technologies. One of the first machines was installed at the New York Public Library, and I was sent to interview its keeper. What do people bring to read on it? I asked. Mostly pornography, he replied. I thought I heard him wrong until he explained that there were readers for the blind who could tackle The History of the American Civil War,soamachine was being used for racier content. I use this story in my book Technocreep, to illustrate the unintended consequences of technology. Now, Kurzweil is at it again, suggesting that if we make it through the next 10 or 15 years, some of us, at least, may become immortal. He predicts that, by then, we will be adding more than a year to the human lifespan each year, and not just for babies. He likens our bodies to computer software that has … Continue reading →