Scientists grow eye

A complete eye, with intact lens, retina and other components, has been successfully grown from somatic cells of ocular origin.

Scientists at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Education in Rajastahn have shown that ectopically transplanted ocular tissues can be made to grow into a complete eye.

The researchers took the lens of a donor tadpole, excised the epithelial cells, and implanted them into the tail of a recipient tadpole.

Within just days, the cells, in the presence of a vitamin-A containing substrate, had differentiated into a complete eye. The experiment has been hailed as showing the plasticity of differentiated ocular tissues in the presence of vitamin A.