Eye Blink

More happens in the blink of an eye than you might think. As the lid flashes down and up, it hydrates and protects your eyes, and creates a unique physiological environment. It's hard for researchers studying the eyes to create comparable situations to run tests on in the lab. A new approach has created an artificial eye structure complete with cells from the eye’s outer layers, the cornea (dyed yellow) and conjunctiva (red), tear ducts (blue), and a blinking eyelid (blue gelatin). Although lacking some of the eye’s natural cellular complexity, closely matching the physical environment makes this device a useful testing ground. It's already been used to investigate the effects of a new treatment for dry-eye syndrome without risking human or animal harm, raising hopes that by providing a testing ground the eye will help improve the outlook on everything from contact lenses to disease modelling.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

Website

• Video on NPG Press YouTube channel by Jeongyun Seo and Dongeun Huh at the University of Pennsylvania
• Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
• Still and video copyright belong to Jeongyun Seo and Dongeun Huh at the University of Pennsylvania
• Research published in Nature Medicine, August 2019