Cataract surgery update: Taking a look at the lenses

New lenses may reduce dependence on glasses, but you may have to pay for it.

Each of our eyes comes equipped with a lens, tucked in just behind the pupil, that focuses light on the retina in the back of the eye. When we're young and spry, our lenses are usually crystal clear. But by the time we're in our 60s or 70s, a lifetime of exposure to light and other factors can "cook" the protein inside the lenses so they cloud up, a little like the white of an egg in a frying pan.