January 6, 2002	Sunday	Shawwal 21, 1422

TOKYO, Jan 5: Japanese scientists have succeeded in growing artificial eyeballs for the first time in the world, Kyodo news agency said on Saturday.

A group of researchers led by Makoto Asashima, biology professor at Tokyo University, succeeded in growing eyeballs in tadpoles using cells taken from frog embryos, Kyodo said.

“Since the basics of body-making is common to that of human beings, I think this might help enable people to regain vision in the future,” Asashima was quoted as saying.

The group, after soaking undifferentiated cells from the embryo of a Platanna frog in a special medium, transplanted the eyeball into a tadpole whose left eye had been removed before it was hatched, Kyodo said.

A week after the transplant, Asashima’s group confirmed the tadpole’s eyeball was connected to the optic nerves and there were no rejection symptoms, it said.—Reuters