Princely gift: embryonic frogs can repair eye tissue

Research into the regeneration of eye tissue in embryonic frogs could support work to restore human tissue.

Scientists from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas found that when the majority of eye tissue was removed in South African clawed frog embryos (xenopus laevis), the tissue would rapidly regrow to a normal sized eye within three to five days.

Their findings are published in Experimental Eye Research.

Study author, Professor Kelly Tseng, highlighted that frog eye development is similar to human eye growth, and could eventually lead to a blueprint of how to induce such regrowth in humans.

“These results suggest the embryonic xenopus eye is a powerful model for studying developmental eye repair,” she shared.

Image credit: Ren West