Fish eyes

Working with hoki fish eyes, a waste by-product from the fishing industry, Dr Laura Domigan extracts sufficient quantities of nanoscale crystallin proteins to look at using these to repair or replace corneal tissue in human eyes, and to make transparent biomaterials – namely thin films, gels and adhesives.

The cornea is the exquisitely composed tissue that covers the eye. It can tear and malfunction for a variety of reasons, and need replacing or repairing. “Over 250 corneal transplants are performed in New Zealand every year, but as with all organ transplants, the number is limited by donors. There simply aren’t enough of them,” says Domigan.

Dr. Domigan, a MacDiarmid Institute and University of Auckland researcher, says her dream is to be able to construct or repair a structure that nature has taken billions of years to design: the eye.
         She is collaborating with her colleagues in the department of ophthalmology at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences to make synthetic or naturally derived surgical products and implants.  “It’s like any materials science problem – we need to look for the properties we need, and then search and experiment with materials till we find the right one,” she says.

Photo caption : Dr Laura Domigan