How will stem cell therapy cure the most common cause of blindness?
British scientists say they have developed a stem procedure that will reverse the most common cause of blindness, age-related macular degeneration. The procedure, pioneered by the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London and Moorfields eye hospital, involves replacing a layer of degenerated eye cells with new ones obtained from embryonic stem cells, The Sunday Times of London reported. The newspaper said pharmaceutical research company Pfizer this week will announce financial backing to bring the therapy to patients. “This is a huge step forward for patients,” Tom Bremridge, chief executive of the Macular Disease Society, told The Sunday Times. “We are extremely pleased that the big guns have become involved, because, once this treatment is validated, it will be made available to a huge volume of patients.” More than 500,000 Britons are affected by age-related macular degeneration and that number will increase significantly as people live longer, observers say. Sources:
Stem cell therapy ‘to cure blindness’ London (PTI): A ray of hope for the visually impaired! Scientists have made a major scientific breakthrough by developing a stem cell therapy to cure blindness. A team in Britain has developed the treatment which involves replacing a layer of degenerated cells with new ones created from embryonic stem cells to cure age-related muscular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness. According to the scientists, it will become a routine, one-hour procedure that will be generally available in six to seven years’ time, ‘The Sunday Times’ reported. Embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into all types of body tissue. And under the new therapy, embryonic stem cells are transformed into replicas of the missing cells. They are then placed on an artificial membrane that’s inserted in the back of the retina. In fact, laboratory trials completed by the team have shown that stem cells can prevent blindness in rodents with a similar disease to AMD.
LONDON: A ray of hope for the visually impaired! Scientists have made a major scientific breakthrough by developing a stem cell therapy to cure blindness. A team in Britain has developed the treatment which involves replacing a layer of degenerated cells with new ones created from embryonic stem cells to cure age-related muscular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness. According to the scientists, it will become a routine, one-hour procedure that will be generally available in six to seven years’ time, ‘The Sunday Times’ reported. Embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into all types of body tissue. And under the new therapy, embryonic stem cells are transformed into replicas of the missing cells. They are then placed on an artificial membrane that’s inserted in the back of the retina. In fact, laboratory trials completed by the team have shown that stem cells can prevent blindness in rodents with a similar disease to AMD. They have also successfully tested elements
The most common cause of blindness is age-degeneration blindness, and this effects more than 500,000 Britons and the number is expected to increase with time. Pfizer an American Pharmaceutical company is backing the research and development of stem cells curing age degeneration blindness. What is being done is that stem cells are being used to replicate the missing cells. The stem cells are placed on a membrane that is artificial before being placed into the eye. While clinical trials are still 2 years out, studies and tests have been performed successfully on lab rats. Sources: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6122757.
