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The approaches include gene therapy, which has produced improved vision in people who are
blind from one rare congenital disease. Stem cell research is considered promising, although far
from producing results, and other studies involve a light-responding protein and retinal
transplants.
Others are implanting electrodes in monkeys' brains to see if directly stimulating visual areas
might allow even people with no eye function to see.
And recently, Sharron Kay Thornton, 60, from Smithdale, Miss., blinded by a skin condition,
regained sight in one eye after doctors at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
extracted a tooth (her eyetooth, actually), shaved it down and used it as a base for a plastic lens
replacing her cornea.
It was the first time the procedure, modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis, was performed in
this country. The surgeon, Dr. Victor L. Perez, said it could help people with severely scarred
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