Human Stem Cells Found to Help Rats' Vision
Forbes.com
Sept. 21 2006
Oregon Health and Science University scientists report that they have used human embryonic stem cells to improve vision in rats suffering from a disease similar to age-related macular degeneration.
A group led by Raymond Lund, a retinal cell expert, injected the human cells into the retina of a special breed of rat in which the retina degenerates shortly after birth. Subsequent tests found that the cells rescued the rats’ vision for three months after birth, The New York Times reported.
The injected human cells seemed to behave as retinal cells should, and the treated rats retained some six layers of rods and cones in their retinas, as much as half the normal value. While more research lies ahead before any clinical test of the cells in patients with macular degeneration could be tried, Dr. Neal Adams of the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore said the development was important and "shows us some of the hope that regenerative medicine possesses," the Times reported.
The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Cloning and Stem Cells.
