Connie(BC)Type 1
08-08-2008, 09:57 AM
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1071853.html
Cure for blindness in his sights
Dalhousie scientist’s work on diseases of the eye showing promise
By KRISTEN LIPSCOMBE Education Reporter
Thu. Aug 7 - 5:12 AM
Gautam Awatramani has a keen eye for science.
So keen, in fact, that the assistant professor of neurobiology and anatomy at Dalhousie University in Halifax is working on a scheme to turn what might seem impossible into the very possible.
Specifically, he’s researching how to reverse degenerative retinal diseases that lead to blindness, with the ultimate goal of restoring sight to those who may have lost hope of ever seeing again.
"It’s promising. It’s very promising," he said over the phone from Vancouver, shortly before heading off to Portland, Ore., for another presentation in hopes of garnering further enthusiasm and excitement over his research.
"What we’re doing is trying to design new therapies for restoring vision and diseases which are associated with the loss of your primary photoreceptors — your rods and cones," he said.
Other researchers have used electrodes to stimulate remaining retinal circuits simultaneously, a method that Mr. Awatramani said "kind of confuses the brain." But he and some fellow scientists in Switzerland have designed a different way, which instead focuses on the different circuits "for bright light and dark light."
They managed to better target the retinal circuits by using a light-activated molecule called channelrhodopsin, which is found in green algae, a Dal news release said.
So far, the fresh approach has proven successful — at least on lab mice.
In fact, the retinal-challenged rodents "could actually see stripes" when all was said and done, Mr. Awatramani said.
He and his colleagues have had their work published in well-respected scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, but Mr. Awatramani is still busy trying to earn both research funding and recognition in his new home.
Originally from Bombay, India, the 35-year-old completed most of his training in the United States and worked for a few years at the University of British Columbia before making his move to Dalhousie last September.
"At Dal, we have a little retina group of about five other scientists," he said of his new lab on the fifth floor of the Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building that he’s eager to get up and running.
"This is not a crazy proposal," Mr. Awatramani said.
"It should be ready in the next year. Before humans, I think we’ll have to test it on primates."
But he added he’s just one part "of a big team" that spans the globe.
Mr. Awatramani said working with scientists around the world and over the Internet allows for "revolutionary work."
"It’s really going to change the way we approach diseases — not only eye diseases, but diseases in the rest of the nervous system, too," he said. "You’re limited (only) by the imagination."
( klipscombe@herald.ca)
’It’s really going to change the way we approach diseases — not only eye diseases, but diseases in the rest of the nervous system, too.’
Gautam awatramaniResearcher
Cure for blindness in his sights
Dalhousie scientist’s work on diseases of the eye showing promise
By KRISTEN LIPSCOMBE Education Reporter
Thu. Aug 7 - 5:12 AM
Gautam Awatramani has a keen eye for science.
So keen, in fact, that the assistant professor of neurobiology and anatomy at Dalhousie University in Halifax is working on a scheme to turn what might seem impossible into the very possible.
Specifically, he’s researching how to reverse degenerative retinal diseases that lead to blindness, with the ultimate goal of restoring sight to those who may have lost hope of ever seeing again.
"It’s promising. It’s very promising," he said over the phone from Vancouver, shortly before heading off to Portland, Ore., for another presentation in hopes of garnering further enthusiasm and excitement over his research.
"What we’re doing is trying to design new therapies for restoring vision and diseases which are associated with the loss of your primary photoreceptors — your rods and cones," he said.
Other researchers have used electrodes to stimulate remaining retinal circuits simultaneously, a method that Mr. Awatramani said "kind of confuses the brain." But he and some fellow scientists in Switzerland have designed a different way, which instead focuses on the different circuits "for bright light and dark light."
They managed to better target the retinal circuits by using a light-activated molecule called channelrhodopsin, which is found in green algae, a Dal news release said.
So far, the fresh approach has proven successful — at least on lab mice.
In fact, the retinal-challenged rodents "could actually see stripes" when all was said and done, Mr. Awatramani said.
He and his colleagues have had their work published in well-respected scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, but Mr. Awatramani is still busy trying to earn both research funding and recognition in his new home.
Originally from Bombay, India, the 35-year-old completed most of his training in the United States and worked for a few years at the University of British Columbia before making his move to Dalhousie last September.
"At Dal, we have a little retina group of about five other scientists," he said of his new lab on the fifth floor of the Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building that he’s eager to get up and running.
"This is not a crazy proposal," Mr. Awatramani said.
"It should be ready in the next year. Before humans, I think we’ll have to test it on primates."
But he added he’s just one part "of a big team" that spans the globe.
Mr. Awatramani said working with scientists around the world and over the Internet allows for "revolutionary work."
"It’s really going to change the way we approach diseases — not only eye diseases, but diseases in the rest of the nervous system, too," he said. "You’re limited (only) by the imagination."
( klipscombe@herald.ca)
’It’s really going to change the way we approach diseases — not only eye diseases, but diseases in the rest of the nervous system, too.’
Gautam awatramaniResearcher