Night Watch

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Since the publication of the very first Kendra Michaels novel, we’ve received many queries about the procedure that gave her sight. Since Night Watch goes into more detail than any of our previous books, this seems like a good time to pass along some of the real-life medical advances that have inspired us.

Since 1998, Professor Pete Coffey of University College London has conducted much of the pioneering work in retinal-cell regeneration and even his earliest procedures (much like the one Kendra undergoes in Night Watch) were successful in restoring the vision of several of his subjects. His work gave birth to The London Project to Cure Blindness, which has been pushing even more boundaries in the years since. The team is currently conducting stem-cell trials to treat Age-related Macular Degeneration, which causes blindness in over 30 million people worldwide. Other exciting cell-based blindness cures are being explored in California, spearheaded by Gabriel Travis at UCLA and Henry Klassen at University of California, Irvine.

Spoiler alert! Don’t read the following until you’ve finished reading Night Watch.

Many readers may assume the Night Watch organ reproduction project is the stuff of science fiction, but some forms of the process are actually here today. Dr. Anthony Atala is doing fascinating work with the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston Salem, North Carolina. He and his team have taken human cells and grown replacement blood vessels, muscles, skin, and a complete urinary bladder. The ultimate goal is to re-create other vital organs that are a perfect match for patients, eliminating the need for organ donors in most cases. Atala and others have developed 3-D printers that actually print replacement organs using water-based solutions containing animal cells. Philadelphia tech company BioBots has actually brought such a printer to market, and although such efforts have yet to be approved for human use, serious work is under way.

Exciting times, indeed.