Biohacking, or the idea artificially enhancing biology is a hot topic. There is even a whole blog devoted to it. A story just hit the wires about a series of blindness reversing operations in cats. Apparently, some felines get a version of retinitis pigmentosa and go blind just like their human counterparts. Several have been fortunate (?) enough to play guinea pig and receive a kitty version of an experimental human retinal implant.
The story describes:
The chips, which provide their own energy, have shown encouraging results in clinical human trials, in some cases improving sight in people with retinitis pigmentosa or at least slowing the disease’s development. Narfstrom said chips have been implanted in 30 people.
Narfstrom’s cats will help researchers fine-tune the chips’ performance and train physicians on surgical techniques to implant the devices, because the structure of cat eyes is similar to human eyes.
The 2-millimeter-wide chips, developed by Optobionics Corp. of Naperville, Ill., are surgically implanted in the back of eye. Each chip’s surface is covered with 5,000 microphotodiodes that react to light, sending electric signals along the eye’s optic nerve to the brain.
“We’re placing it right where the photoreceptors are and if they’re lacking, this is supposed to replace what they’re doing,” she said. “At this point, its impulses of light they’re seeing (as opposed to images), but the aim of the research is to get more information out of the chip.”
Of course they do cite the many other companies working in this arena:
“Then there are the many attempts, like Optobionics, of creating artificial sight. Some efforts include miniature video cameras that pipe images straight to the brain, devices that send signals to a network of miniature electrodes attached to the retina or chips that eventually could graft themselves to retinal cells, creating a cyborg-like system for producing images. A French company is conducting trials for an implant that would release proteins in the eyeball to offset the damage done to retinal cells, perhaps indefinitely.”
On a philosophical note how far would you go–A DARPA program administrator spoke to me about artificial limbs and the army’s work on “bionic” prosthetics (read more here and here). He asked- “what if your daughter came up to you 10 years from now and said Daddy I want to be the fastest runner in the world- please cut off my legs and give me the prosthetic ones”. We are approaching the technological inevitability when replacement body parts may surpass the abilities of our natural ones. Legs that run faster or eyes that can see farther, sharper, or in the dark. Would you get one implanted? I also spoke with a doctor who was in charge of drug and genetic testing at the Olympics (genetic as in making sure the boys are boys and the girls are girls at the DNA level). He asked a similar question about performance enhancing drugs and cited reports of college students using performance enhancing sleep deprivation drugs designed for the military. If a drug was available with no short term side effects that could allow you to not nned to sleep for a few days and enhance memory and performance what proportion of college students would take it before exams? What is the limits you would go to to enhance your performance? I think my wife fears the day I come home with a Matrix-plug in the base of my skull….
Related Articles
79 users responded in this post
You might be assimilated
From fixing blindness in cats now to enhancing our bodies later, or Mr. Boy’s fav toys, the bionicals."We are approaching the technological inevitability when replacement body parts may surpass the abilities of our natural ones. Legs that r…
Cats Getting “Bionic Eyes;” Humans Next
An experimental new blindness cure is currently being tested on our feline friends, with light-sensing chips being placed at the backs of their eyes to restore sight. Since cats have similar eyes to humans and can get retinitis pigmentosa, a…
[…] ‘Bionic’ Cat Eyes May Help Humans [via Doc in the Machine] […]
Cats Getting “Bionic Eyes;” Humans Next
An experimental new blindness cure is currently being tested on our feline friends, with light-sensing
This is great news, I hope so that this will be used soon…
[…] ‘Bionic’ Cat Eyes May Help Humans [via Doc in the Machine] […]
チップの移植で視力を回復する試み
視力回復技術のテストしてるとこですよ。 眼球の裏に光を感知するチップを移植…
[…] This is precisely the substance the the former chief medical director of the olympic committee spoke to me of. He asked - once this stuff hits the street don’t you think a majority of college students would use it to perform better on exams? The military sure thinks its a god idea for soldiers and pilots. You can read my thoughts on how far people will go in the future to enhance their bodies here. If you think plastic surgery is the rage of body enhancement - wait until we get performance enhancing bionics and cognitive enhancing drugs and implants! […]
I think I’d go bionic where any of the senses were involved (sight, smell, hearing…)if I was losing funtion in those areas.
I’d go bionic with extremities only in the case that I lose one (heaven forbid)
The technology should be used to replace lost function, not enhance existing function.
IMHO, of course!
I think I’d go bionic where any of the senses were involved (sight, smell, hearing…)if I was losing funtion in those areas.
I’d go bionic with extremities only in the case that I lose one (heaven forbid)
The technology should be used to replace lost function, not enhance existing function.
IMHO, of course! thanks
I’d go bionic with extremities only in the case that I lose one (heaven forbid)
The technology should be used to replace lost function, not enhance existing function.
IMHO, of course! thanks
hi good thank you I’d go bionic with extremities only in the case that I lose one (heaven forbid)
I’d go bionic with extremities only in the case that I lose one (heaven forbid)
hi good thank you I’d go bionic with extremities only in the case that I lose tatil yerleri one (heaven forbid)
The technology should be used to replace lost function, not enhance existing function.
The chips, which provide their own energy, have shown encouraging results in clinical human trials, in some cases improving sight in people with retinitis pigmentosa or at least slowing the disease’s development. Narfstrom said chips have been implanted in 30 people.
extremities only in the case that I lose one (heave
trials, in some cases improving sight in people with retinitis pigmentos
The technology should be used to replace lost function, not enhance existing function.
Great post.Thanks a lot.
From fixing blindness in cats now to enhancing our bodies later, or Mr. Boy’s fav toys, the bionicals.
The technology should be used to replace lost function, not enhance existing function.
Great post.Thanks a lot.
Thank you very successful and useful
site I have received the necessary information
özel hastane
Thanks.
Thanks anyway…
The military sure thinks its a god idea for soldiers and pilots. thank you..
You can read my thoughts on how far people will go in the future to enhance their bodies here .. telefon dinleme cihazları
If you think plastic surgery is the rage of body enhancement - wait until we get performance enhancing bionics and cognitive enhancing drugs and implants! […]
Since cats have similar eyes to humans and can get retinitis pigmentosa, a…
thanks a lot.
I am thanking for the knowledge
The military sure thinks its a god idea for soldiers and pilots. thank you..
The technology should be used to replace lost function, not enhance existing function.
IMHO, of course! thanks
thank you very much
I’d go bionic with extremities only in the case that I lose one (heaven forbid)
Thanks
I’d go bionic with extremities only in the case that I lose one (heaven forbid)
with extremities only in the case that I lose one
thank you very much
you very much ! you very much
you very much !
thanks for post admin, very good web site’s.
thank you admin
thnxxxx
hello to everyone who has blog.first I congratulate the blog owner.he is got excellent blog.actually I read all your articles from weary and your writing very attractive waiting to continue thanks
Thanks for article…
great man
very good very thanks
thanks verry mucks good nice..
very very god admin
thankss
casus telefon ve telefon dinleme yazılımları
telefon dinleme yazılımı, casus telefon dinleme
This is perfect. Thanks.
how far people will go in the future to enhance their bodies here estetik cerrahi hakkinda
I think I’d go bionic where any of the senses were involved (sight, smell, hearing…)if I was losing funtion in those areas.
I’d go bionic with extremities only in the case that I lose one (heaven forbid)
The technology should be used to replace lost function, not enhance existing function.
IMHO, of course!
Great stuff - glad someone has started to blog this as its an interesting topic. Having read William Gibson’s Neuromancer, the possibilities are endless for this sort of technology and having already been aware of limbs, eye and ears being some of the first practical areas of development, (aswell as the man and woman in Sheffield Uni who had a chip implant that allowed each other to ‘feel’ each others experience) - and being something I dreamt of back at the age 7, (born in 1979), is there a stage we will reach where we can simply ‘buy’ specialist info/data in a chip and have it implanted directly to your brain? Already, almost everyone has access to the internet which can give them instant access to answers, questions, specialist information through a single internet search - but at which point will this information become such a commodity we can directly input it into the brain? My reasoning at the time for it was the need for no more school!! Just buy a chip and away you go.. but of course then you would have a disparity in who can afford the latest technology or data… The impacts of such implants and the potential performance upgrades over the ’standard’ or ‘non-enhanced’ human being could and would cause both new cultures to grow and certainly new and unforeseen problems to arise; but its exciting!! I’d love to experiment with a small amount of bionic implantation if the price were right and it gave me the right gains performance wise.. Interesting topic and great blog! Thought provoking!
Cheers
H
This is great news, I hope so that this will be used soon…
This is perfect. Thanks.
thanks you
Good work with this usage of the sqldb API. I’ll keep you posted on the schema API when I find out more.
Some people have a lot of important deals but despite of it they should write the persuasive essay. But at this time they have not to worry about that, just because they will use your useful article about this good post as a sample for for writing. Other way, that occurs doable to come to essayscentre.com to order the free term papers. Moreover, it’s really fast.
od work with this usage of the sqldb API. I’ll ke
Hey! Holey Coins .. Turkey has called them. So once used …:))))
Turkey has called them. So once used …:))))
so goood:))))))
Issues were detailed and concise description. Thank you to past labor.
thnx admin too much
see youu admin
thanks admin
hmm
nice article thank you özel güvenlik firması
thank you http://istanbulozelguvenliksirketleri.com
Issues were detailed and concise description. Thank you to past labor.
Good work with this usage of the sqldb API. I’ll keep you posted on the schema API when I find out more.
teşekürler admin kulak burun boğaz hastanesi
Issues were detailed and concise description. Thank you to past labor.
We are allright word and my think is loving and true way is nice… But interesting first liking wirelsss console. and the writing blog post is good.
Leave A Reply
Please Note: Comment moderation maybe active so there is no need to resubmit your comments