I feel like pretty much I know has glasses or contacts. I remember when I was little, I always wanted to be part of this group and would BEG for glasses. But now, I am very glad that my eyesight is 20/20 and I don’t need glasses. 🤣But imagine, if as I get older I lose my eyesight. That would really suck. Fortunately now, I don’t have to worry about this, as scientists have been able to turn back the clock to restore eyesight in older patients! 🎉
Why do we lose our eyesight as we age?
Well, this is a good question. We all know that as we age we start to see a sort of negative effects on our body, from having to pee more often to developing diseases such as Dementia or Heart disease. And just like any other part of our body, neurons deteriorate with age and lose their resilience to injury, which results in our eyesight slowly disappearing. The specific cell in our eyes is called Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which are bona fide brain neurons. So basically, our eyes are made up of neurons, like our brain is. These RGCs then make extended projections out of the back of the eye to connect with the brain, called axons. Unlike neurons, axons regenerate and grow, just like normal cells. But, as we age, these axons lose their potential to do this, which causes us to lose our eyesight. Now, despite all the different factors researched to prevent or promote the survival of the axons, there hasn’t been any who could restore vision after damage to the optic nerve. Until now…
Harnessing Our Epigenetic Clock
You might be wondering what the heck an epigenetic clock is. An epigenetic clock is basically a test we can use to measure age. It does this through DNA methylation levels. But, it can also be referred to as our internal aging clock. So, how can we harness this clock? Well actually, there are many different ways for us to do this, but in this case, we are doing it by allowing our axon cells, which are what connect our eye to our brain, to regrow.
Ok, so that might sound kind of weird. Basically, we are using a transcription factor, which is something that regulates gene expression, to turn back this clock and turn old axon cells into young axon cells again. Think of it like turning your grandma back into herself as a young kid, but without any time travel, and at a smaller level. In order to do this, scientists are injecting the eye with an OSK treatment. This treatment uses a virus the expresses OSK, a specific transcription factor, that then triggers the cells to regenerate. This allows for the axon to recover from damage and can restore eyesight!
How does this actually work to restore vision?
This seems really awesome, right? Well, it is! But, you might be wondering how this actually works. The awesome thing is that the key is found in longevity! Even though scientists aren’t 100% sure why the OSK treatment works, they have a pretty good idea. As you age, your cells accumulate epigenetic noise, which alters gene expression and eventually causes your cells to lose their identity and sometimes the ability to regrow, or multiple. The OSK treatment contracts this allowing for the expression of the OSK factor, which then allows for the axons to regenerate and restore the damaged cells. Finally, this reconnection allows for restored eyesight in old mice! So, basically, the OSK treatment clears the epigenetic noise that comes with aging and allows for the axons to regenerate.
Future Applications
Despite only being used in mice right now, this treatment has huge potential applications! Of course, the most obvious is in healing age-related eyesight issues. The first one is glaucoma. Glaucoma affects over 3 million Americans and causes them to go blind. Think about how amazing this treatment could be for all those people! Another potential use is in the treatment of injuries to the axon. Injury to the axon can cause people to have severely impaired eyesight, or even lose their eyesight, but with this treatment, we could reverse these injuries. Finally, the most exciting application of this treatment is the use of it on healing neurons in other parts of the body, such as the brain and spinal cord! Since the treatment can currently allow for regrowth of the neurons that build the axon, we hypothesize it could be used elsewhere. This could significantly help people of a sort, such as healing spinal cord injuries, helping the paralyzed walk, and curing different types of age-related brain injuries! This treatment has great potential to help many different people! So, if you are as excited as I am about this, watch out for future applications soon to come!
If you’ve made it this far, thank you! I am a 15-year-old who is interested in regenerative medicine, biocomputing, and public health. If you want to see me continue to grow and 10X myself, sign up for my newsletter here!
