Every year, hundreds of infants are born throughout the world with genetic diseases that cause opacities or cloudiness of the cornea (the window of the eye). Opacified corneas prevent light impulses from reaching the brain, which results in permanent blindness. But blindness may be prevented in these infants through the use of cornea transplant surgery. In this procedure, the opacified cornea is replaced with a donor cornea. This provides a new clear window that allows light impulses to be transmitted to the brain so that visual development may occur.