Bionic Cat Eye Implants Aid Blindness Research

docinthemachine writes with news of felines getting human retinal implants. The cats were afflicted with a version of retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that also blinds humans. The implants are 2-millimeter-wide chips 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. The article makes clear that the implants don't allow the cats to see — what they get is impulses of light. The hope is that the electrical activity in the optic nerve will encourage new retinal cells to grow. The article notes: "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."

Morals

[pete-classic]

My cat refuses to use any product or treatment that has been tested on humans.

-Peter

The Collective

[the dark hero]

"Resistance is futile." - The Borg

Re:Backwards?

[ross.w]

Not with cats. We exist only to serve their every need. If you didn't know this, you obviously never had a cat.

Oblig

[Anonymous Coward]

I for one, welcome our new feline cyborg overlords.

Ob. Seinfeld

[Lord_Slepnir]

I forget the exact quote, but it goes something like:

Vet: The is squirrel is badly hurt. it will require about $10,000 worth of surgery, plus we have to fly in a special set of instruments from Switzerland.
George: i see. How much to put the thing down?
Vet: About 65 cents.
George: hmm..
* Georges girlfriend shoots him the evil eye *
George: Um...just asking

Maybe I don't get it, but there are hundreds of sighted cats that are put down every day in shelters around the US. How about giving your blind cat the gift of mercy and adopting a new cat?

NOTE: Poster may be bitter about (1) having a finance whose apartment is infested with a cat and (2) being allergic to the damn things.

Re:Morals

[Lord_Slepnir]

I have a perfectly balanced compromise:

We test this out on PeTA members.

I'll go get the corkscrews, you get the doctors to put these in.

Schroedinger's Obligatory Cat Reference

[silentounce]

They've hit a snag in the research. It's quite puzzling. They've discovered that the cat can see and is blind at the same time.

Re:Ob. Seinfeld

[kfg]

Poster may be bitter about (1) having a finance whose apartment is infested with a cat and (2) being allergic to the damn things.

Well then you should have talked her into just shacking up; and if you think you're allergic now, just wait until she becomes a wife.

KFG

Re:The Collective

[vertinox]

Or in the case:

"Resistance is... Oooh! A peice of yarn!" *pounce* -Cat Borg

The $6 million cat

[Anonymous Coward]

We can rebuild Fluffy, stronger than before, faster, better, able to leap from the floor to the kitchen counter where you're preparing the meat for your dinner in a single bound.

Oh, and by the way, Fluffy says you can forget about feeding her any more dry food.