by Gregg Zoroya , USA Today, November 14, 2009
In our biotechnology class this semester, we learned that the Department of Veterans Affairs is a key player in many stages of research in biotechnology, from bionic arms to artificial vision. As Zoroya notes in this article, the Pentagon provides no rehabilitation centers for veterans blinded in combat, and it is therefore left to the VA to prepare veterans for civilian life without sight. The first half of this article focuses on individual cases that are exemplary of the large-scale picture of army veterans who have been unfortunate enough to have lost their vision—these are people who were once capable of sight and have lost this sense while fighting for their country. Many people argue that because these people have already sacrificed much in fighting overseas, they deserve every care possible (including expensive research into things like artificial vision) to ensure that they can reawaken their lost senses.
In 2007, the VA took part in two clinical trials on artificial vision, which are discussed in the latter half of this article. These trials involved implanting silicon chips into the eyes of blind veterans. These chips apparently function as “receptors that can transform light into electrical signals that can be transmitted to the brain.” Although this article does not provide a very in-depth overview of the science behind artificial vision, it certainly raises many key points in many policy debates. For one, history shows us that it is often through the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs that many great steps in biotechnology are undertaken, from cutting-edge research to practical implementation. Moreover, the article highlights the philosophical question regarding what we as a nation owe our veterans. Is it the responsibility of the government and the American people to channel at least as much money into rehabilitating veterans as we do into developing new weapons technologies? This type of question resonates with the idea of artificial vision, because this sense is something that most of these wounded veterans would have most likely retained had it not been for their participation in war. Moreover, the research that goes into helping restore sight in veterans could one day easily help thousands of civilians.
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