The eye has become a focal point for biologists, ophthalmologists, physicists and many other branches of science ever since. So when the Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramn y Cajal made the first anatomical diagrams of neurons and the retina in 1900, it stoked a century of biologists attempting to unlock the eyes secrets.

And there have been several discoveries. Unlike our ears and nose, for example, which never stop growing our entire lives, our eyes remain the same size from birth. Then theres the complicated process of irrigation, lubrication, cleaning and protection that happens every time we blink an average of 4,200,000 times a year.

Dr Yoshiki Sasai, the late Japanese biologist who was building a human eye in his lab (Dimitri Vervitsiotis/Getty)

And there are other astonishing inbuilt systems too. Take, for example, a little trick called the Vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). In short, its our own personal Steadicam an inbuilt muscular response that stabilises everything we see, by making tiny imperceptible eye movements in the opposite direction to where our head is moving. Without VOR, any attempts at walking, running even the minuscule head tremors you make while you read these words would make our vision blurred, scattered and impossible to comprehend.

But while the inner workings of the eye continue to surprise scientists, the last decade has seen an unprecedented confluence of biology, technology and ophthalmic innovation. An international scientific endeavour that is not only finally unlocking the eyes true potential but also how to counter, and ultimately cure, its biggest weaknesses.

One scientist leading the charge is Professor Chris Hammond, the Frost Chair of Ophthalmology at Kings College London. Ive been working in ophthalmology for nearly 25 years, he says. And I think were at a key moment. The pace of our genetic understanding, cell-based therapies and artificial devices for the treatment of eye disease is advancing faster than ever.

His personal crusade treating common conditions such as myopia, cataracts and glaucoma, as well as eye diseases is, he says, slowly becoming possible. For example, were finally starting to understand some of the mechanism of these diseases how genetic and environmental risk factors, and not ageing, might be significant. And with some of the rarer diseases, were starting to look at actual cures.

We are also understanding more and more about the processing that is already being done within the retina, before signals are sent to the brain. And with the amazing abilities we have today for imaging, the emerging technologies are exciting too.

With much fanfare, the first bionic eye debuted last year. Developed by Second Sight Medical Products, the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System consists of 60 electrodes implanted in the retina, and glasses fitted with a special mini-camera. Costing 73,000 (58,000) to install, it then sends images albeit very low-resolution shapes to the users brain. Which means people with degenerative diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa can differentiate between light and dark, or make out basic shapes such as doorways.

In terms of devices like these, we are still at the very crude technology stage, says Prof Hammond. Theyre only really of use to people who are completely blind. But the thing about technology is that it evolves with amazing speed.

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