Jeanette Pritchard slides a brain onto the table and points to the area where scientists will implant 600 tiny electrodes to produce bionic vision. The wobbly white organ is a silicon replica of the human one a 60-strong team of researchers at Melbourne’s Monash University is trying to rewire, sending electrical impulses directly to the region creating visual percepts -- the brain’s interpretation of the nerve signals it would receive from a functioning eye. Their device will be tested in animals later this year before the first human studies in 2014.
