Grow A Frog Eye Anywhere

My, Your Eyes Are So Electric - ScienceNOW

A decade ago, Michael Levin made a bizarre discovery. Subjected to an electrical pulse, cells in a developing frog gut or tail would form what looked like normal eyes. At the time, the developmental biologist at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, was too busy with other projects to follow up on the discovery. But now he and colleagues have shown that a natural electrical current jump-starts normal eye development in frogs. The discovery comes as a surprise to some biologists, but it may eventually help clarify why certain human eye defects arise and lead to ways to repair damaged or diseased eyes...