Retina created in a test tube

This is exciting news even if you’re not concerned with retinal degeneration-researchers at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (Kobe, Japan) have grown embryonic stem cells from mice in a culture medium and after twelve days, the cells spontaneously assembled themselves into a three-dimensional structure resembling a retina.  Nature News called this “far and away the most complex biological tissue engineering yet,” even though the scientists involved with this work have not shown that these artificial retinas transmit light impulses to the brain.     MORE

Image Credit:  M. Eiraku and Y. Sasai at RIKEN and Smart Planet