Hello Steemians,
the Strōma Medical Corporation, a development stage medical device company located in Laguna Beach (California) promises you that they can change your brown eyes into blue eyes in a 30 seconds long and painless laser procedure for around 5000$.
So how does it work?
The difference with brown-eyed individuals is that the front layer of their eyes, called the stroma, contains an abundance of melanin, the pigment that also gives skin and hair their color. This results in the majority of light hitting the eye being absorbed, but the small amount reflected makes them appear brown to us. So to go from brown to blue, all you need to do is remove the melanin present in the iris.
Stroma Medical’s chairman Dr. Gregg Homer explained to CNN how it works:
“The fundamental principle is that under every brown eye is a blue eye. The only difference between a brown eye and a blue eye is this very thin layer of pigment on the surface.
If you take that pigment away, then the light can enter the stroma—the little fibers that look like bicycle spokes in a light eye—and when the light scatters it only reflects back the shortest wavelengths and that’s the blue end of the spectrum.”
The results won’t be apparent for several weeks though. It takes time for the body to remove the dead pigment layer.
Homer denies problems that experts suggest appearing after the surgery. They think that the pigment could cause a blockage in draining channels, which may increase pressure in the eye. The result would be glaucoma if not treated.
The debris resulting from the procedure would be too small to cause such problems.
You can't be sure because there are no negative long-term effects known because the procedure is so new.
The surgery is undergoing human testing in Costa Rica and Mexico.
I have naturally blue-grey eyes. And I like being part under 17 % of the world's population with that special color, which is also becoming less and less common. :P
And if even it was possible I would never change them into another eye color.
What about you? Would you like to change your eye color? Would you go for it if it were cheaper or reversible?
Information taken from Medill Reports Chicago and IFLSCIENCE.