Stem Cell Cure For Blindness

There are several types of stem cells that could be used in different ways depending upon the particular disorder to be treated.

Stem cell cure for blindness.

They injected stem cells into the rear of the eye. Stem cells can act as a source of new healthy specialized cells and may provide a way to replace damaged cells in the eye. If the final trial goes well there is a hope to have the stem cell treatment available for surgeons to use for patients with wet amd. To perform the stem cell transplant researchers initially tested things out in blind mice.

Stem cell treatments replenish the supply of retinal pigment epithelial rpe cells that bring nutrients to the retina. Many common forms of blindness are the result of problems with photoreceptor cells. Using stem cells to cure blindness coffey s team are developing treatments for amd based on transplanting new rpe cells made from human embryonic stem cells pictured into patients. While this development is a huge development for stem cell technology the treatment is limiting as the stem cell therapy cannot treat dry age related macular degeneration which is the more common type.

But the good news is that these types of blindness usually leave the optic nerve and other eye structures undamaged. A british research team has capitalized on this selectivity by experimenting with stem cells. Implantation of a specially engineered patch of retinal pigment epithelium rpe cells derived from stem cells has restored vision in the subjects both of whom are affected by wet age related macular degeneration amd. In 2006 nature published a paper describing how stem cells could be used to restore sight in blind mice.

This study and similar subsequent studies created a lot of excitement about the potential. So what is current research focused on.