Science News for Kids
Date: August 7, 2025
What if you could grow a brand-new eye… just like that? Sounds like science fiction, right? Well, for one special snail, it’s not fiction—it’s just normal life!
Meet the golden apple snail, a freshwater snail that has camera-type eyes just like us—and guess what? If it loses an eye, it can grow it back!
🌟 Wait—Snails Have Eyes Like Ours?
Yes! These little creatures may be slow, but their eyes are pretty high-tech. Just like human eyes, their camera-like eyes have:
- A lens to focus light,
- A retina full of light-detecting cells,
- And even an optic nerve that sends signals to their brain.
🔬 Scientists Were Amazed
Dr. Alice Accorsi, a scientist from the University of California, Davis, wanted to learn how these snails manage to regrow something as complex as an eye.
Her team studied how the snail’s body responds when its eye is removed. Using special tools like microscopes and genetic analysis, they discovered something incredible: the snail’s new eye looks and works just like the original one!
It takes about a month for the eye to regrow completely, but it goes through amazing steps like:
- Healing the wound (within 24 hours),
- Growing new cells that become eye parts,
- Building new eye structures like the lens, retina, and optic nerve,
- Letting the eye mature over the next few weeks.
🧬 Using CRISPR to Understand Genes
The scientists also used a special tool called CRISPR-Cas9 to study the snail’s genes. They discovered that one super-important gene, called pax6, is crucial for growing eyes—in both snails and humans!
When the pax6 gene was turned off in baby snails, they didn’t grow any eyes at all.
Now, Dr. Accorsi and her team are checking if pax6 also helps the snails regrow their eyes—maybe it’s a kind of “eye master switch” gene!
👁️ Could This Help Humans?
Right now, if a human loses an eye or goes blind from damage, we can’t regrow it. But since snails and humans share some of the same eye genes, scientists are hopeful.
Maybe one day, doctors could use what we learn from these snails to help humans heal or even regrow their eyes.
Wouldn’t that be amazing?
🧠 Fun Fact Time!
Did you know? In 1766, a scientist discovered that garden snails can regrow their whole heads after being cut off. Whoa!
❓ Quick Quiz (For Curious Kids!)
- What type of eyes do apple snails have?
A) Simple dots
B) Camera-type eyes
C) No eyes
D) Heat sensors - What gene helps grow eyes in both snails and humans?
A) Zoom6
B) LensX
C) pax6
D) ShellGene - How long does it take a snail to regrow an eye?
A) One day
B) One week
C) One month
D) One year - What tool did scientists use to edit snail genes?
A) Microscope
B) Telescope
C) CRISPR
D) Time machine
Answers: 1–B, 2–C, 3–C, 4–C
