|
|
Cyborgs and Stem Cells - Transcript
[c]
|
00:00 G.V.
People walking in street
As
above; different shot
Exterior
- Bristol Eye Hospital
Wide
shot, Researcher in laboratory
c.u.
hand on microscope control
c.u.
Researcher's face at microscope
c.u.
hand adjusting microscope lens
Wide
- Researcher at microscope
c.u.
hand and item counter
Prof.
Andrew Dick at his desk
Side
view of above
c.u.
Professors face and pan to slides shown on computer
Guide Voice: For most of us, the first thing we
think of when considering our perception of the world around us, is
our sight. So any impairment of sight or damage to the eyes can be
particularly traumatic.
At the Bristol Eye Hospital, in the South West of England,
researchers from the University of Bristol have made an exciting
discovery that could have major impact on eye damage that results
from retinal disease. Although the retina consists of neural tissue
that is similar to the brain, it has always been understood that it
does not contain progenitor cells, also known as stem cells, which
could help to remodel the eye following retinal damage. Professor
Andrew Dick, head of the University's academic unit of
ophthalmology, has never accepted this view and he and his research
team have recently reported evidence of stem cells in the adult
human retina.
00:48 SOT: Professor Andrew Dick, Head of
the Academic Unit of Ophthalmology, University of Bristol
- "The excitement of our findings are that it completely
changes the paradigm of treatment. The concept is now that, for
example, if we take an inflammatory process, there's no question
that we have to dampen down the inflammation first. So that's one
aspect of research, but to remodel the tissue we then have to think
of new ways of generating tissue function, and this is where the
stem cell, the progenitor cell work comes into play. So we're left
with understanding these cells and being able to switch them on
again in order to generate new cells to generate function, or
maintain the function without losing more".
00:48 SOT: Professor Andrew Dick, Head of
the Academic Unit of Ophthalmology, University of Bristol
- "The excitement of our findings are that it completely
changes the paradigm of treatment. The concept is now that, for
example, if we take an inflammatory process, there's no question
that we have to dampen down the inflammation first. So that's one
aspect of research, but to remodel the tissue we then have to think
of new ways of generating tissue function, and this is where the
stem cell, the progenitor cell work comes into play. So we're left
with understanding these cells and being able to switch them on
again in order to generate new cells to generate function, or
maintain the function without losing more".
01:32 Dr.
Eric Meyer sat at microscope
c.u.
hand on magnification dial
Still
showing cells migrating from retinal explant
c.u.
Dr Meyer at microscope
Still
showing Neurosphere
Guide Voice: Their research programme is already
able to grow stem cells from biopsies of human retina, and they are
now looking at the conditions required to turn them into nerve
cells or photoreceptor cells. If they can understand that, then
they are well on the way to controlling eye disease by helping the
injured retina to restore itself.
O1:51 SOT: Dr. Eric Meyer, Locum
Consultant/Senior Lecturer, University of Bristol -
"We've been able to grow neural progenital stem cells from
adult tissue. These cells were previously thought to exist in
developing or foetal embryonic tissue when new tissues and cells
are being grown and laid down but it wasn't thought that these
cells that can form new nerve cells or light receptors could be
grown or found in adult tissues. This is very interesting because
it means that the adults have the ability to regenerate the cells
and the tissues to a certain extent and we've been able to grow
these cells out of donor eyes from people aged well up into their
late 80s."
02:29 SOT: Prof. Dick -
"I hope that we'll be able to establish a treatment for
patients who are losing vision as a result of degeneration. I'm
still unclear as to how successful this research will be for
patients who have lost a lot of vision but if we catch disease
early enough then we'll be able to prevent further visual loss by
using such treatments. So in my working lifetime, which has still a
fair bit left I hope, we'll hope to see this whole new avenue of
treatment approach available."
02:29 SOT: Prof. Dick -
"I hope that we'll be able to establish a treatment for
patients who are losing vision as a result of degeneration. I'm
still unclear as to how successful this research will be for
patients who have lost a lot of vision but if we catch disease
early enough then we'll be able to prevent further visual loss by
using such treatments. So in my working lifetime, which has still a
fair bit left I hope, we'll hope to see this whole new avenue of
treatment approach available."
03:06 Wide
of Neil Harbisson walking in grounds of Dartington College of
Art
NH
approaches bench and sits
Over
shoulder shot showing NH and view to be painted
NH
sorts through paints & holds up to Eye-Borg lens for
identification
Over
shoulder shot - NH painting
c.u.
Eye-Borg lens and paints being held up to view
Wider
of above
Guide Voice: For some that have suffered certain
sight impairments from birth the research from Professor Dick and
his team may not be of any help. But there's another innovative way
to address one such problem. Neil Harbisson is colour blind. In
fact, he suffers from a rare condition called achromatopsia, which
means that he has no perception of colour and only sees in black,
white and shades of grey. But a new prosthesis, known as the
Eye-Borg, has now given him a way to differentiate
colours.
03:34 SOT: Neil Harbisson, Eye-Borg
wearer and student at Dartington College of Art (note:
Neil was born and raised in Spain. English is not his first
language) - "I was in a lecture given by Adam Montandon in
Dartington college and he was talking about cybernetics and cyborgs
and how new technology can change the way we perceive the world
and, when he finished and asked him if he thought it would be
possible to create something so that I could perceive colour in
some way and he said 'Sure', and we began a project."
04:03 NH
checks view & re-checks paints
Guide Voice: What Adam created was the
"Eye-Borg" - a means of transferring colours into a
series of audible tones.
04:10 SOT: Adam Montandon, Creative Director, HMC Entertainment Systems and Guest Lecturer in Digital Arts, Dartington College of Art
- "How the Eye-Borg system works is it uses a small,
digital head mounted camera that takes in all the colout
information directly in front of it and feeds it into a computer
that you can wear in a backpack, it can be any normal laptop
computer, and the laptop runs on special software that slows down
the light waves and turns them into soundwaves. Those soundwaves
then come out of the headphones here."
04:34 Med.
wide NH painting - audio tones from Eye-Borg can be heard
Over shoulder shot of painting - audio tones from Eye-Borg can be heard
Profile of NH painting - audio tones from Eye-Borg can be heard
c.u. paints held in hand - audio tones from Eye-Borg can be heard
Guide Voice: The Eye-Borg analyses the light
waves it received and transposes these into sound waves. So red,
which is a low colour frequency, is heard as a low tone; violet, at
the other end of the spectrum, would sound as a high tone. This
gives Neil his new found perception of colour and Adam is confident
that he can adapt his invention to help others.
04:55 SOT: Adam Montandon - "The wider
applications of the Eye-Borg are almost limitless. It's not just
for people with visual impairments; it could even be used for
people with complete blindness. And also a lot of musicians, a lot
of artists, a lot of engineers are really interested in a project
that combines visual and audio experience as one new perception.
Everybody uses their eyes or their ears in their day to day job,
and this can really help to bring a closer connection between the
two."
05:25 END
|
|
