The California-based Science for the Masses, a “citizen science” organization of so-called Biohackers in the city of Tehachapi, speculated that the natural molecule Chlorin e6, created from algae and other green plants, could give temporary night vision.
The group of biohackers figured that because the molecule, found in deep-sea fish and used in some cancer therapies, has been prescribed for night blindness, it could, if carefully dropped into the eye, enhance the way humans see in the dark.
“There are a fair amount of papers talking about having injected it in models like rats and it’s been used intravenously since the 60s as treatments for different cancers,” The lab’s medical officer Jeffrey Tibbetts told Mic.com. “After doing the research, you have to take the next step.”
And that next step was to treat the eye of fellow biochemical researcher Gabriel Licina with 50 microliters of Ce6.
The effect was apparently instantaneous, the Independent reported, and Licina was able to make out shapes almost 10 meters away in the dark. And the effect increased over time.
“We had people go stand in the woods,” Licina said. “At 50 metres, I could figure who they were, even if they were standing up against a tree.”
The effects only lasted a couple of hours and Licina, the only test subject with 100% success, reported his vision returned to normal the next day.
Science for the Masses published a paper on their website detailing the experiment. While the long-term effects of the use of Ce6 have yet to be determined and will require more research, the team plans to continue more trials involving the electrical stimulation caused by the nervous system to increase the power of our eyesight.
Tibbets says, “For us, it comes down to pursuing things that are doable but won’t be pursued by major corporations. There are rules to be followed and don’t go crazy, but science isn’t a mystical language that only a few elite people can speak.”
Biohackers are independent researchers that engages in a wide array of body modification practices as a form of science. They ranges from Grinders, who create and install body modifications such a horns or forked tongues, to home-based genetic sequencing.
