Using stem cells in the treatment of blindness

The British Medical Research Council (MRC) announced on July 21 that scientists in the country have succeeded in recovering sight for blind mice. This is considered a new step in the treatment of retinopathy.

The team, headed by scientist Robin Ali, of the University of London's Eye Research Institute and the Moorfields Eye Institute, used early-stage stem cells, which are susceptible to changes, taken from rat embryos and implanted. into test tubes so that they develop into initial light-stimulating cells, or light-sensing cells in the retina.

After injecting about 200,000 cells into the retina of the mice, the researchers found that some of the cells were "well integrated" with the cells available in the retina to restore vision. Later, the mice were tested in "water labyrinths" and tested by optometry to confirm they were reflected to light.

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According to MRC, in the future, stem cells in the early stages will be an infinite supply of light-stimulating cells for retinal surgery to treat blindness in humans.

In humans, the loss of light perception is often caused by eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Earlier, the British team also discovered that the vision of blind mice could be restored by implanting light-stimulating cells called rod cells. taken from the retina of healthy mice.

The results of this study have taken a new step because transplanted organs have different light-sensing neurons and they cannot be taken from other animals. Instead, these cells are developed in the laboratory and develop the cell wall needed by the new technique of reshaping the shape of the retina - the technique first developed in Japan.

Ali also said that in recent years, scientists have succeeded with stem cells and directed them to develop into different types of cells and adult tissues. However, the complex structure of the retina has made it difficult to replicate in the laboratory.

With the new Japanese technique, the next step is to refine this technique to be able to use human cells in clinical trials.