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Using Stem Cells to Cure Blindness

Scientists are developing stem-cell-based therapies for degenerative retinal diseases.

Stem-cell-based therapies could one day stop people with macular degeneration or other retinal diseases from losing their sight.

Scientists are taking the first major step in using stem cells to replace retinal cells lost to degenerative eye diseases such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. According to findings published today, researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle can reliably make retinal cells from embryonic stem cells. The researchers are now implanting the cells into blind animals to see if the cells can restore vision.

"This work is the first step toward retinal reconstitution," says Stephen Rose, chief research officer at the Foundation Fighting Blindness, a nonprofit funding agency based in Owings Mills, MD.

By Emily Singer

Full Story: http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17307&ch=biotech

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