Apple snails regrow their eyes – and may help humans do the same: Human eyes are masterpieces of biological engineering; however, once damaged, they cannot rebuild themselves. Golden apple snails, by contrast, routinely replace an entire camera-type eye within a month.
Apple snail’s eye regeneration could aid human therapy: A study in Nature Communications has found that golden apple snails have the ability to regrow their eyes, in a process that shares anatomical and genetic similarities with humans. Researchers using CRISPR-Cas9 to study gene function during regeneration found that genes such as pax6 are crucial for eye development. The research could lead to therapies for vision loss in humans by activating dormant regenerative genes.