Alice Accorsi, a molecular and cellular biologist at UC Davis, thinks the golden apple snail can one day cure blindness.
This South American freshwater mollusk can regenerate complex, human-like “camera-type” eyes from scratch. The cornea, lens, retina, and all the parts that make seeing possible are all remade from nothing, at will, like an ocular Wolverine.
In a study published in Nature Communications, Accorsi’s team dissected, scanned, and gene-edited these snails to understand how their regeneration ability works. On day 1 of its eye-rebuilding journey, the apple snail starts by healing the wound.
Then, the process proceeds to cell migration and specialization, which occurs from days 3 to 15. By the 15th day, all the structures of a fully functioning eye are in place. They will continue to develop and mature over the weeks to come.
Scientists Look to Eye-Regrowing Snail for Potential Blindness Cure
Whether the snail can see with it is still TBD. And if it can, at what stage does its vision come online? At least it has all the necessary hardware.
The real breakthrough is that these snails share key developmental genes with humans. One in particular, pax6, is a regulator of eye development across species. When researchers shut it off with CRISPR, a gene editing tool, snails stopped growing eyes.
If Pax6 and other genes associated with high regeneration are switchable in humans, we might one day be able to trick our own eyes into rebuilding themselves after injury or disease.
Accorsi and her team are now charting out which genes spark regeneration, and figuring out how to flip those genetic switches in humans. We’re still years away from the Kardashians being photographed outside of a trendy LA eyeball regeneration spa.
Still, thanks to one very cool snail and cutting-edge science, it’s a reality that’s within sight.
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