A team of Biohackers have
successfully induced night vision in
healthy human eyeballs which would
allow them to see through a distance
of 50 meters.
Science for the Masses, a Biohackers
group based in Tehachapi, California, were
experimenting on a method that would be able
to enhance a healthy human eyesight with
night vision. The group used Chlorin e6 or Ce6
which is a kind of chlorophyll analog found in
some deep sea fish, alternatively the chemical
can also be extracted from algae and it has
been used safely for cancer treatments. It was
also found that small doses of Ce6, which is
occasionally used for treatment of night
blindness, can provide a night vision in healthy
eyesight for a short term.
As per the report from Science.Mic Jeffrey
Tibbetts, the medical officer of Science for the
Masses and biochem researcher Gabriel Licina
together as a team have got a patent for their
research paper known as “A Review on Night
Enhancement Eyedrops Using Chlorin e6.”
Now the team decided to carry out their first
controlled experiment in what seems to be a
sort of garage and Gabriel Licina agreed to
become the guinea pig. Tibbetts slowly dripped
about 50 microliters of Ce6 using a fine turkey
baster (a sort of pipette) into Licina’s eyes
which was stretched out using a
speculum. 50 microliters of Ce6 is usually a
very low dose and Tibbetts aimed at
the conjunctival sac to drop the chemical
which then was carried till the retina. “To me, it
was a quick, greenish-black blur across my
vision, and then it dissolved into my eyes,”
Licina told Mic.
As per the patent the actual effect of this
induction would start after almost an hour.
During this waiting period Licina had to use
protective contact lens along with sunglasses
to shield his eyes from the indoor light as his
eyes had now become more sensitive.
The full effects of Ce6 kicked in after about an
hour and the team conducted some control
tests in a dark field to check the result of the
induction. Licina and a control group
comprising of three other researchers who
were not subjected to the Ce6 dose conducted
three different subjective tests at about a
distance of 50 meters .
Regarding the results of the tests Tibbetts has
written in his report that: “These consisted of
symbol recognition by distance, symbol
recognition on varying background colors at a
static distance, and the ability to identify
moving subjects in a varied background at
varied distances.” As per Mic report Licina
gave 100% result as he was able to identify the
objects and symbols in all the tests however
control group researchers with regular
eyesight had only a 33 percent success rate.
The team has plans to carry out rigorous tests
to get more solid data as the initial test
conducted was a great success however the
effect of Ce6 is there only for few hours hence
now the team wants to conduct the tests with
longer hours of the induction effects. Also Ce6
was able to give a vision of objects which were
placed at about a distance of 160 feet in dark
woods.
Well for now Licina says: “You take it and
quantify it and write it down, and release it. …
This is how science works. It isn’t flashy. But it
makes it more accessible. It shows it can be
done. If we can do it in our garage, other
people can, too.” Truly Biohacking which is a
combination of science and biology together
can really make things happen and this night
vision can be used in future by rescue teams
to search someone in the dark forest and even
in hostage situations.
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