A cure for blindness developed in space? That might soon become true
International Space Station
Drug start-up LambdaVision is in the midst of developing the world’s first protein-based artificial retina for patients with genetic blindness, but the uniquepart of the process? It is being developed in space! The company plans to use microgravity to manufacture the retina, the process of which was hard to get right on Earth.
World’s first artificial retina
LambdaVision is developing the first protein-based artificial retina to restore “meaningful vision” for people “who are blind or have lost significant sight due to advanced retinal degenerative diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD),” said the company on their website.
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The drug company was founded in 2009 with the mission to develop a protein-based artificial retina for patients with RP, a genetic cause of blindness and AMD, a leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 55, reported Bloomberg.
However, the manufacturing process of this retina which involves placing 200 paper-thin layers of a light-sensitive protein in a polymer mesh, that has to be perfectly even for it to work properly, is complicated, to say the least, and difficult to execute on Earth.
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In late 2018, the company turned to the International Space Station in the hopes that the microgravity there could help, reported Bloomberg. LambdaVision has been working with the ISS, NASA, and Space Tango to explore how microgravity could improve their complex manufacturing process.
What are the difficulties?
Earth’s gravity has proven to be an obstacle in LambdaVision’s manufacturing process of the retina. This is because the gravity on Earth can cause particles to settle or liquids to evaporate, leading to imperfections and increasing the instability of the artificial retina.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the company has sent eight experiments to the ISS and so far, the quality of production has dramatically improved.
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In space, “you get nice even layers” of the protein with less wasted material, Nicole Wagner, LambdaVision’s chief executive officer told Bloomberg. “The goal is to be one of the first products manufactured in space that would be used here on Earth,” she added.
The protein-based artificial retina would mimic the light-absorbing properties of human photoreceptors and replace the function of the damaged cells in the retinas of blind patients, said LambdaVision, on its website.
LambdaVision’s artificial retina is lightweight and only as big as a paper hole punch, reported Bloomberg, and if everything goes according to plan, it will be ready for human testing in three to four years.
(With inputs from agencies)