• Question: Is it possible to have a whole eye transplant?

    Asked by to Del, Catherine, John, Krishna, Mo Rassul on 13 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Catherine Mansfield

      Catherine Mansfield answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      At the moment nobody has ever had a whole eye transplant. That is because the eye has a lot of nerves connecting it to the brain and it would be very difficult for surgeons to connect all those nerves to the brain so that the eye functions properly. However, it is possible (and actually quite common) to have transplants of parts of the eye such as the cornea (the transparent front of the eye).

    • Photo: Muhammed Rassul

      Muhammed Rassul answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      Not yet, in humans. This can be done in frogs.
      Because you can’t connect up the nerves in humans, and frogs can regenerate their optic nerve meaning they can reconnect the eye.
      Maybe one day.

    • Photo: John Foster

      John Foster answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      As @Catherine says transplantation of the cornea from the eye is very common and the first one was performed over 100 years ago!

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