Scientists have successfully grown stem cells isolated from cadaveric human eyes in the lab. Hema Vijay explains that one day, a patient’s own stem cells from the eye could be used as a source of donor cells to cure retinal blindness.
It is a huge step forward in the challenging path leading up to the development of an autologous (from one’s own body) stem cell transplantation cure for so-called ‘irreversible’ blindness arising from retinal degenerative diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, cone dystrophy, diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment, retinopathy of prematurity (Leber congenital amaurosis), age related macular degenerations, and glaucoma.