Ansley Jones
September 22, 2015
“Bionic Eyes, Stem Cells and Gene Therapy: 3 Cutting Edge Cures for Blindness” by Alexandra Sifferlin
Medical advances in the past few years have been revolutionary and life changing for people affected by various diseases, but not all diseases have made big leaps forward. Ophthalmologists (eye doctors) have known for a long time that eyes pick up light and turn it into electrical signals that are sent to the brain where it is generated into an image. Yet, this process is extremely complicated and many things can go wrong along the way between the eye and the brain. Ophthalmologists know a lot more about vision problems and their causes; however, for those with irreversible blindness, there is has not been much hope until now. Researchers are getting closer to being able to effectively treat blindness. This article discusses three cases where patients were treated with cutting-edge cures for blindness. The first patient, Steve McMillin, was blind due to retinitis pigmentosa. This rare and inherited disease destroys photoreceptors that take in light and transmit signals to the brain. McMillin was treated using the Argus-II, a “bionic eye.” The Argus-II is a retinal implant that is surgically implanted into a patient’s eye. The patient wears a pair of modified sunglasses that have a video camera on the front of them. The camera picks up an image and transmits it to a processing unit on the glasses, which then transmits the impulse to the retinal implant. The implant then sends the signal past the destroyed photoreceptors to healthy retinal cells that send the signal to the brain so it can then see the image. The patient has to undergo training in order for the brain to get used to the Argus-II and to be able to see images better; it does not happen automatically. McMillin was not able to work after his eyesight disappeared. He received the Argus-II treatment and can now see wavy-lines and edges, but not full shapes. With training, he should continue to make progress. The second patient, Michael Ganley, is losing his vision due to Stargardt’s macular degeneration. This disease is the main cause of blindness in elderly people but Stargardt’s disease is the juvenile form. Macular degeneration causes the cells that feed the retina to degrade, causing the retina to die. The eye then cannot take in light and process signals to send to the brain. Michael Ganley was treated using stem cells from extra IVF embryos. These stem cells were treated with compounds to influence them to grow into retinal pigment epithelial cells, the cells that feed the retina. The stem cells were then injected into the eye where they will theoretically grow and replace the damaged feeding cells. Ganley has not noticed if the procedure has made a huge improvement yet, but a couple weeks after his surgery he could see two more lines on the eye chart. The cells take a while to grow and repair the retina, so his condition could continue to get better with time instead of getting worse. The third patient, Dale Turner, has Leber congenital amaurosis, a disease caused by a genetic mutation that inhibits the photoreceptors in the eyes. He received a gene therapy treatment where a harmless virus carrying non-mutated genes producing the right proteins was injected into his retina. This treatment is not always permanent for some patients because their retinas continue to degenerate. Scientists are continuing to modify this procedure to improve results. Turner received this treatment and remembers being shocked by how blue the sky was; he didn’t realize how much he was missing out on because of his condition.
Having good vision is directly correlated to quality of life. Poor vision makes it harder to work, live independently, and enjoy many everyday activities. Each patient struggled to do something important in their lives because of their blindness. Steve McMillin, the first patient, could see his wife’s face and his grandson for the first time in years after his vision loss. Michael Ganley, the second patient, said his poor vision had a direct impact on his fiance, who went through the whole process with him. Dale Turner, the third patient, pointed out that by not being able to see, he missed out on so many things. Turner accurately stated, “It isn’t easy. We live in a society that assumes everybody can hear and everybody can see. So the prospect of being able to see and overcoming something that’s supposed to be incurable is remarkable.” As these technologies improve, they become less expensive and more widely available to other patients. Eventually this can help those who are blind in developing worlds. Cataracts and eye infections plague people in third-world countries. I did a health fellowship in eye care this summer in Ghana, and experienced first hand how people are affected by poor eyesight. They receive little support from local clinics and their eyesight prevents them from being able to work and take care of their families. Some even saw traditional healers who treated their eye problems with urine and dirt. If an adult can’t see then a child in the family is often kept out of school to be their eyes so it impacts the lives of other family members and eventually the whole community. If scientists can develop these treatments at a reasonable cost, we could eliminate most blindness, improving the lives of people around the world.
I found this article to be fascinating. It was very detailed in describing the three patients’ individual cases and ground-breaking treatments. Each case study had the diagnosis, causes, treatment, how the treatment works, and what it has done for the patient. This made the article especially impactful because it was personal as well as scientific. The one thing Sifferlin, the author, could have done better would be to define and explain some of the scientific terms. I learned about eyes in my fellowship so I was familiar with some of the technical terms but someone with no background in the anatomy of eyes and how they work would find the article difficult to read and understand. Other than that, this article was thorough and unbelievably interesting. Imagine the possibilities if blindness could be treated and cured someday?
Sifferlin, Alexandra. "Cutting-Edge Cures for Blindness: Three People's Stories." Time. Time,09Sept. 2015. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. <http://time.com/4026658/blindness-cure-treatment/>
Ansley,
ReplyDeleteIn your review of Bionic Eyes, Stem Cells, and Gene Therapy: 3 Cutting Edge Cures for Blindness, I felt that your greatest strength was your ability to analyze what was the cause of blindness in each patient and how each treatment was fixing this. Although this is a very complicated topic, I felt that you did an excellent job of concisely and clearly explaining this. Another thing I thought you did very well was that you analyzed what the significance of this article is in your second paragraph. I thought your explanations of how these treatments improved quality of life for all three of these patients was very insightful as well as helpful in understanding how these treatments could help others. Lastly, I thought you did an excellent job transitioning. I thought you transitioned very well from both patient to patient as well as from topic to topic, making your review very easy to read.
I thought that the organization of your review could have been improved. Although you transitioned well, creating new paragraphs for a description of each patient would have improved the organization of your review. I also thought that your conclusion could have been improved. I found it awkward that you ended your review with a question.
I found it really interesting that blindness can be cured. Before reading your review, I did not really understand what caused blindness, hence a “cure” to blindness never crossed my mind. For this reason, I found your analysis especially astute.
I liked how you covered a large variety of individual cases of blindness and their various treatments. This approach helps the reader to understand the topic in a more complete manner. Another aspect that was well done was the use of specific people with the various conditions. Providing a name and some brief background information helps the reader to connect with the person that you are talking about. This makes the article leave a more emotionally lasting impression on the reader. I also appreciated how you went further and explained what living with blindness is like. Connect the treatments to their impact on the patient's lives also helps form an emotional connection. One thing that could improve your review is including pictures of the people that you discussed. This would really draw the reader into understanding the lives of these people. Also, while the variety of information that you discussed was good, the review would flow better if the different patients were connected with a common theme. Abruptly changing from one person to another is very jarring to the reader and can throw their mind of track. I was really interested in the bionic eye treatment that you mentioned. I have never heard of a treatment like that before. I am curious of the same concept could be applied to other senses like hearing or smell.
ReplyDeleteAnsley! Great job! I thought that you picked a very interesting article and I think that you did a great job of describing the article. As you said how the eye processes image is very complicated but when you described how the eye work you did a good job of stating each step so the reader has a better idea of what is going on. I also really liked how you describe the different patients and how they were treated. I thought that was very interesting and showed again how complex the eyes are. It is crazy how much people do miss out on when they are blind. I thought it was really important point to remind people how this advancement in technology helps people’s lives so much. And how important these advancements are to the people. I loved your review but I think that in the second paragraph when you when you talked about people with bad eye site was not needed. I think you gave enough of how it was a struggle to be blind in the beginning of the paragraph and this part was not needed. I thought it would also be better if you told the reader of what other technologies are being worked on right now to help eyesight. I thought your article was really interesting and was surprised to learn about all the new technology that is being used in the eye. It is really crazy how people are put at such a disadvantage when they're blind but the way they are fixing it is even crazier!
ReplyDeleteHi Ansley!
ReplyDeleteIn your review I like how you explained why Ophthalmologists (eye doctors) have such a hard time curing blindness due to the complicated process of transmitting images from eyes to the brain. I’m excited to read though that there is hope for people with irreversible blindness. Another thing I liked about your review is how you wrote specific examples of patients and how their lives changed due to the new discoveries. It was amazing reading about how science can bring someone sight which they thought they’d never get back. My favorite part about your article was how you tied in your own story to the article you read. I didn’t know you went to Ghana over the summer and had a fellowship in a hospital. It’s tragic that you witnessed entire families not having the time or resources to receive an education due to one family member’s blindness. Overall, I really liked the personal tie which made your review much more interesting to me.
One thing I felt was particularly challenging was the vocabulary being used in your review. I did not really understand how the process worked or what happened. Maybe you could have made like processes more understandable and simplified it. I also would have only used two patients as examples in the first paragraph because by the third it becomes a bit repetitive and dull.
I think the possibility for finding a cure to irreversible blindness is world changing and an extremely exciting idea. I think the article you picked was really interesting because I hadn’t heard anything before about curing blindness. I hope I hear more in the news about this in coming months!
Ansley did a great job on her review, one reason was she was able to add details about the three cures. Another aspect Ansley did well was she added a personal connection to the topic of the article which helped me to understand why she chose this article. Also, it is very impressive to learn that she did health fellowship in eye care this summer in Ghana. I was able to learn, one cure is called Argus-II, which is a “bionic eye”, or a retinal implant that is put into the eye through surgery. Another cure used stem cells from extra IVF embryos, the cells were treated with compounds to make them to grow into retinal pigment epithelial cells, the cells. Finally the third cure was a gene therapy treatment where a harmless virus carrying non-mutated genes producing the right proteins was injected into his retina.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this review was very good, and included all the aspects of the assignment, there are a couple ideas on how to improve. One idea to improve the review would be to shorten the summary paragraph, even though it is important to include all the important information. There could possibly be a way to condense the paragraph. Then a second idea for improvement is to specify which terms need to be further defined or explained.
I chose to read this article because I know there are many ways to fix certain eye problems, but I was still interested in learning about cures in depth. I liked how the article, as well as Ansley’s review included the stories along with the cures. Rather than just stating the cures with explanations.
Ansley did a fantastic job on this current event. She explained in detail each diagnosis, procedure, and treatment for each patient in a clear and concise as she could be manner that added to the authenticity to her review. The summary paragraph, although long, was easy to read and comprehend; she kept it interesting without rambling on. I also liked how she included how the patients were doing to date and how revolutionary the treatments are becoming and how they will hopefully become more accessible. Lastly, I really appreciated the personal anecdote added at the end of the second paragraph. It was very helpful in understanding why she chose this specific article; while reading I could sense her passion for the subject.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Ansley's review was very impressive and detailed, she could have improved on a few things. One, I think that if she included details on who founded the treatments and how the discoveries of these treatments came to be, it would have made the summary more intriguing; if there were other patients on which the treatment failed they should be mentioned to show how the treatments have progressed. I also think that if she added more direct quotations from either the scientists who created the treatment, the patients, or the author, the summary would be more pulled together.
Being someone who wears glasses and is constantly at the eye doctor for sensitive eyes, I saw this article on the blog and was instantly drawn to it. I am amazed that the treatment in the first patient, implanting a device in the eye and then wearing sunglasses with a camera to read light information, actually works. I am looking forward to seeing how science progresses in medicine in the near future.
Sifferlin, Alexandra. "Cutting-Edge Cures for Blindness: Three People's Stories." Time. Time,09Sept. 2015. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.
Ansley, this topic of bionic eyes are is incredibly interesting but hard to explain. You have done an awesome job going over each one of different causality of eye problems and how they have started to fix their problem. You have also made each one of these topics easy to understand and have let us into the lives people with the problems. You have analyzed each of the people's lives in away that we can better feel for what they are going through. Another thing that you have done well is tied in quotes directly from the patients themselves. This gives us first hand their life experiences. I do however think you could have added more scientific quotes tieing into your article. While your scientific explanations are well done, having quotes directly from the source is helpful and a good writing skill. The second thing you could have improved on is in your analysis of the article itself and how it really can affect the world. Ask the reader about the limitation of stem cells, and maybe what we could expect to realistically see in the future. I thought that this topic was incredibly interesting due to the advancement in tons of different sciences all tied to the one topic of bionic eyes. What if we could completely replace people's eyes or put in eyes with night vision or something.
ReplyDeleteFord Neild 10/1/15
ReplyDeleteCurrent Event 3 AP Biology
Dear Ansley,
Your summary of the article was interesting and very personalized. It summed up the article very concisely but made sure to recognize all of the author's main points. After reading the original article it self, I was confused by much of its scientific jargon, especially when the Argus II was described. However, your explanation of the Argus II was much for digestible. Additionally, I enjoyed your explanation of how bad it truly to not be able to see like everyone else. In our fast paced world, many people forget that there are those who cannot function as we do, so having such as disability is crippling. I felt that Dale Turner’s quote, “I was shocked by how blue the sky was” speaks to the incomprehensible pain the people like him suffer. By the same token, it was nice to hear the personal stories of those cured of blindness. Specifically, Steve McMillen’s touching statement about being able to finally see his wife's face added a real emotional tone to your summary. Finally, your personal experience doing a trip to Africa reinforced the point that, especially in third world countries, where proper medical care is not available, blindness can not only affect the lives of those affected, but the entire community surrounding them.
Though your summary was well written, I felt that some aspects of it could have been improved upon. For example, when mentioning how surplus IVF (in vitro fertilization) are grown to match retinal pigment epithelial cells, I would tell the reader what IVF and epithelial cells are. Also, I would provide specific quotes as to how the author could have improved his writing, instead of simply saying that “his analysis could have been improved upon.”
From your summary, I have learned a lot about the advancements in the field of Ophthalmology as a whole. One thing in particular that stuck with me was the bionic eye. I had no idea that scientific research was able to fuse computers with the nervous sensors inside of our brain. Prior to reading this article, I was have thought such technologies to be science fiction.
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “Cutting-Edge Cures for Blindness: Three People’s Stories.” Time. Time,09Sept.2015.Web. 22 Sept. 2015