On Thursday, Blackiston published the results of a few years’ worth of those microscopic surgeries, and the finding is bizarre: If you transplant an eye onto what will become the tadpole’s tail, that organ — misplaced though it may be — can allow the animal to see.
Admittedly, it’s impossible for humans to look through a clawed frog’s eyes, and in this case, Blackiston and the director of his lab, Michael Levin, were mainly testing whether the tadpoles could perceive movement and colored light. But they say their research doesn’t just have implications for scientists’ ability to restore vision; it also sheds light on how to connect implants and grafts to the body’s own wiring.
via Scientific American
