THERE have been many great advances in medical science in recent years. We all hail, rightly, the progress being made in the fight against cancers. Stem cell research gives hope that cures will soon be found for some of the most debilitating diseases and illnesses to afflict humanity; smallpox and polio are all but eradicated.

It is good to celebrate these major breakthroughs, but we should also rejoice in victories on a smaller scale that mean so much.

One such is the operation that has allowed 87-year-old Joyce Cook the ability to see her grandchildren’s faces clearly for the first time.

Mrs Cook, a retired nurse from Edinburgh, has become the first patient in Scotland to undergo a pioneering new corneal transplant in an operation performed at the capital’s Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion, which replaces only the innermost layer of the cornea, called the endothelium.

That is a cold fact, however. More warming is the reaction from Mrs Cook, who said: “The results are fantastic … faces have become so much clearer, it's wonderful.”

The work being pioneered at the Princess Alexandra will not garner worldwide accolades and will not feature on any Nobel shortlist. But the joy of a granny being able to gaze upon her much-loved family ought to be reward enough.