Blind mice have had their sight restored in a landmark procedure which could give hope to millions of glaucoma sufferers.
A team of scientists managed to regenerate severed optic-nerve cables to re-establish a link between the mice's eyes and their brains.
Researchers believe the breakthrough could pave the way for the development of a treatment for glaucoma, which affects nearly 70 million people.
The study was led by a team from Stanford University, who induced a condition similar to glaucoma in the mice.
The condition is caused in humans by excessive pressure on the optic nerve.
Because cells in the retina do not regenerate once they are damaged, it means that vision loss is usually permanent.
But when the mice were treated with a series of chemicals alongside intensive exposure to high-contrast visual stimulation, consisting of constant images of a moving black-and-white grid, the pathway was partially repaired.
Andrew Huberman, an associate professor of neurobiology, said: "More than a third of the human brain is dedicated to the processing of visual information.
"Over two dozen brain areas get direct signals from retinal ganglion cells.
"These areas are involved in not only what we typically think of as vision, but also circadian rhythms and mood.
"When those cells' axons are severed, it's like pulling the vision plug right out of the outlet."
While the mice's vision was partially restored, the researchers say that the mice failed tests which required finer visual capabilities.
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