Laser can turn your brown eyes blue permanently with a quick, 20-second procedure - TomoNews

LAGUNA BEACH, CALIFORNIA — Southern California inventor Gregg Homer says he and a team of ophthalmologists have developed a procedure that can surgically turn brown eyes blue. Brown-eyed people actually have blue irises, but the blue is obscured by a layer of brown pigment. Homer explained to CNN that if the layer of brown pigment is not there, then light can enter a part of the eye called the stroma. Once light scatters inside the stroma, only the light with the shortest wavelengths — blue light — is reflected back. The relatively new, 20-second laser procedure removes the superficial layer of brown pigment by causing the eyeball to shed pigments that will never regenerate. People who undergo the surgery won’t see a change immediately as the it takes several weeks for the eyes to remove the dead pigment layer, CNN reported. The surgery is currently undergoing human testing in Costa Rica and Mexico through Homer’s company Stroma Medical. Currently there are no known long-term adverse effects of the procedure. But Homer has said it’s too early to say for sure. The procedure will cost around $5,000, but only if the procedure is allowed in the United States.