Reuters reports that British and American scientists have restored vision in blind mice by transplanting light-sensitive cells into their eyes in a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments of human eye diseases. The mice suffered from eye damage called photoreceptor loss, which occurs in macular degeneration. Previous studies that had used stem cells, master cells in the body that have the potential to become any type of cell in the body, had failed because the cells did not form into photoreceptors. But now scientists have shown that the key to successful transplantation is using precursor cells that are already programmed to become photoreceptors but are not quite there yet. The findings by the scientists from the Institute of Ophthalmology and the Institute of Child Health in London and the University of Michigan Medical School are published online by the journal Nature.
Also, US physicians have successfully operated on infants and children for the first time with a new version of an artificial implant that takes the place of the eye cornea called the Boston Keratoprosthesis. The results of the operations, conducted by physicians at the University of Rochester Eye Institute and the Johns Hopkins University points to a new option for dramatically improving the vision of a group of people for whom traditional cornea transplants usually fail. It also mirrors similar success in adult patients. In the study, 15 children who had previously had unsuccessful cornea transplants recovered some vision, sometimes remarkably so, and none had an infection or a problem with the implant. To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
