Project Description


BACKGROUND INFO

An old proverb goes “The eyes are the window of the mind.”

However, eyesight problems have become the one of biggest worries for Chinese teenagers. How we can protect our eyesight has also become the top concern for young teenagers and their families. The NHC of PRC conducted a special survey on myopia from September to December in 2020, covering 8,604 schools nationwide and screening 2.477 million students. The results show that: in 2020, the overall near-sightedness rate of children and adolescents in our country was 52.7%. Among them, 14.3 percent of 6 years old, 35.6 percent of elementary school students, 71.1 percent of middle school students, and 80.5 percent of high school students. The data really surprises us, which also informs us it is urgent to put effort into eyesight protection. It's empty... waiting for your notes to fill in.

Figure 1 Wearing eyeglasses can restrain further damage of eysight, but it can’t surve as a cure to the primary cause of the damage

Wearing eyeglasses can restrain further damage of eysight, but it can’t surve as a cure to the primary cause of the damage.At first, members in SHSBNU_China teams tried to figure out the causes of eyesight impairment. After we talked with several experts in ophthalmology department(including Shao LiGong: Doctor of Ophthalmology and Visual Development Science, visiting professor of pediatric visual development and ophthalmology).

Figure 2Figure 2 Figure 3Figure 3

OUR APPROACH

We finally focused on two break through points---oxidative damage and blue light irritate
- Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nit Rogen species (RNS) are important factors causing oxidative damage to proteins. Many biochemical reactions produce ROS and RNS, both of which can lead to genome instability and cell death.
- Sunlight and electronic screens emit blue light. Blue light has short wave length and great energy, which can penetrate human lens directly to the macular area of the eyes. Previous research explored that exposure to blue light can cause damage to retinal cells, leading to vision impairment or even loss.

Figure 4Figure 4 Figure 5Figure 5 Figure 5Figure 4

Furthermore, is there anything can be resistant to both oxidative damage and blue light? To answer this question, we spent a lot of time reading scientific papers, and we noticed anthocyanin, which produced by plants exhibits excellent characteristics.
- Anthocyanins are natural pigments widely found in plants. They have been reported as health care products to assist many physiological functions, including eye protection and anti-aging effects.
- Anthocyanin related products have been widely used in production and life, it is a safe and harmless wealth given by nature.