Mammalian eyes have a limited ability to regenerate once neurons degenerate. This results in visual impairment that impacts the quality of life among adult populations as well as in young children leading to lifelong consequences. Various therapies are in development to restore vision, and these include gene therapy, stem cell therapy, in-vivo transdifferentiation, and transplantation of a patient’s whole eye obtained from interspecies blastocyst complementation. This review discusses advances in the research as well as hurdles that need to be resolved to have a successful restoration of vision.

Jak-STAT pathway is required for embryogenesis, female gametogenesis, cytokine-mediated neuroprotection, diabetes, obesity, cancer, stem cell, and various tissues. The noncanonical role of Jak-STAT in mitochondria function was supported by the detection of STAT protein in mitochondria, however, several studies show that STAT protein is detected in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and not in mitochondria. STAT protein may alter mitochondria function without entering mitochondria, this involves regulation of fission and fusion proteins to change mitochondria morphology. However, how changes in mitochondria morphology lead to changes in mitochondria metabolism needs further investigation.