cleareyeWhile deadly pathogens like avian flu are circulating around the world, Columbia Medical Center’s Department of Ophthamology has come up with a way to safely stiffen your eyeball.

No, this has nothing to do with one of our other illustrious alumni but rather a solution to the blinding disease of keratoconus and possibly even glaucoma and myopia.  The researchers found that sodium nitrite in a buffered balanced salt solution stiffens the cornea and prevents the eye from bulging too far.  All the gory details are in the patent application.