A cure for blindness could be the first product made in space

Artificial retinas made in space appear to be better than retinas made on Earth, suggesting that a cure for one of the leading causes of blindness may be one of the first products made on commercial space stations in the future .

Vision 101: Once light enters the eye, it travels to the retina – a thin layer at the back of the organ – where light-sensitive cells called photoreceptors convert it into electrical signals. The signals are then sent to the brain for interpretation.

Many eye diseases damage photoreceptors, leading to vision problems or even blindness. They affect millions of people and there is no known treatment for the most common: retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.

Even a force as slight as the force of gravity during manufacturing can lead to imperfections.

Artificial retinas: Connecticut startup LambdaVision uses a light-activated protein called “bacteriorhodopsin” to build artificial retinas. The hope is that the devices will one day restore the vision of people with retinal degeneration by replacing their damaged photoreceptors.

“Activated by light entering the eye, the artificial retina pumps protons to bipolar and ganglion cells,” says Nicole Wagner, CEO of LambdaVision. “Receptors in these cells detect protons, prompting them to send signals to the optic nerve, where they travel to the brain.”

Construction of the space: Each of the artificial retinas contains 200 layers of protein on a mesh membrane. The more uniform these layers, the better the implant should work, but even a force as slight as the force of gravity during fabrication can lead to imperfections.

In search of flawless protein layers, LambdaVision decided to explore the possibility of manufacturing its artificial retinas in space, with the hope that the microgravity environment on satellites would lead to a better product.

The company partnered with Space Tango, a space research company, to design an experiment using one of its CubeLabs, starter box-sized containers filled with all the automated systems needed to perform experiments. with near real-time input from Earth. .

Supported by a $5 million NASA commercialization grant, he sent his first CubeLab to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2018, and four more followed.

“[We’re looking at] how to make this as repeatable and of the highest quality possible,” Wagner said.

The fifth CubeLab has now returned to Earth, and according to LambdaVision’s initial analysis, the 200-layer films it contains were more uniform than the controls they created on Earth.

This fifth experiment was also the most self-contained to date – while LambdaVision researchers frequently had to intervene with early CubeLabs, this technology inside of it produced the movies almost entirely on its own.

Look forward: Each microgravity experience has helped LambdaVision in its goal of meeting FDA manufacturing standards for its artificial retinas by the end of 2023, and it already has three more CubeLabs slated to arrive at the ISS next year.

“We’ve made a lot of progress, but there’s still work to be done,” Wagner said. “We continue to look at the parameters, we continue to develop these tests. But having made the 200-layer film in microgravity is an important step. »

LambaVision hopes to have its artificial retinas ready for trials involving patients with advanced retinitis pigmentosa in 2024. If all goes well, trials to treat age-related macular degeneration will follow.

Eventually, he plans to work with commercial partners to manufacture the implants in space.

“There’s a lot of promise to continue doing this work in a microgravity environment,” Wagner told the Financial Times. “But the ISS is a research laboratory. Commercial space stations will have more capabilities. They will be designed with the future in mind.

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