Vision Researchers Eye Innovation

Michael Grace and student Ofego Okpobrisi examine a green snake.

Seeing with new eyes

“This tool is extremely important in biology and in the biomedical sciences,” says Grace. “Confocal microscopes have been around for a while, but this one ups the ante by providing us with full-spectrum color [instead of traditional tricolor] — the ability to detect many different fluorescent signals inside materials.” The new confocal microscope is part of Florida Tech’s High Resolution Microscopy and Advanced Imaging Center that Grace directs.

Grace is a recognized leader of research into how pit vipers and other snakes see in both the color and infrared spectrums. His studies are helping humans create highly sensitive infrared detectors and other devices for biomedical, industrial and defense applications.

A cross section of the retina of the African spurred tortoise is examined under the confocal microscope.

Grace’s latest research centers on the vision of endangered tortoises, sea turtles and marine fish. He and other conservationists and scientists hope that a better understanding of how these animals see will allow for better conservation efforts.

This new understanding is already paying dividends in the form of an important early discovery.

“For more than 100 years, scientists have believed that tortoises only have cones — meaning that they could see some color but that their vision was limited to daytime. We’ve discovered they also have rods, which means they can also see in dim light and have a greater range of spectral sensitivity than previously believed.” Grace believes this ability is critical for conservation because vision is so important to turtles and tortoises. “Pollution and loss of favorite food items might have important effects on wild animals, and in captivity, the quality of light in which the animals are kept may affect their food choices and nutrition,” he says.

More to come

Grace expects more discoveries to come, and relatively quickly too, through the new confocal microscope. In addition to his studies in sensory neurobiology, Grace is working with Florida Tech professor of mechanical engineering Kunal Mitra on laser-based systems to detect and treat cancers.

“We’ll use the scope to study laser-tissue interaction,” Grace explains. “The hope is to create a process that will kill cancerous cells, spare healthy tissue and speed wound healing. Because the microscope has its own lasers, we can watch how tissue responds in real time.”