Stem Cell News

The Straits Times, Singapore
9th November 2006
Stem Cell Transplant helps blind mice see

Scientists in Britain have restored sight to blind mice by transplanting stem cells at a key stage of development into damaged retinas, the journal Nature will report today

The feat is being hailed as a breakthrough in stem cell technology. The scientists’ work focuses on replenishment of rod-like photoreceptor cells on the retina that pick up light and send a signal to the brain via the optic nerve. Photoreceptors are like the pixels in a TV screen, but many times more plentiful – each eye has more than 100 million light-sensitive cells, equivalent to a thousand such screens.

These vital cells can be destroyed by diseases that affect millions such as diabetes and retinitis pigmentosa, leading to irreversible blindness. Scientists have tried for several years to attack the problem by transplanting stem cells, the versatile immature cells that grow into various tissues of the body.

The favoured source is stem cells at a very early of development, yet these fail for some reason to be integrated into the retina.

The British team has taken a different tack, trying cells that, instead of being very immature, have been allowed to grow a little towards becoming photoreceptors.
They used these cells to resotre vision to mice born with a genetic disease similar to retinitis pigmentosa.

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