Regenerating Vision
February 14, 2017 | Terry Sharrer

Transplanted Stem Cells in Rodent
Degeneration of photoreceptor cells in the eye is a major cause of age-related blindness, which is why the Buck Institute for Research on Aging (Novato, CA) is investigating the potential for stem cell-derived vision regeneration. In mice studies, these biologists have demonstrated that transplanted stem cells don’t simply die, but are destroyed by immune system rejection. By suppressing that rejection, “the team showed . . . there was a 10-fold increase of living human embryonic stem cell-derived donor retinal cells that matured and integrated into the retina.” MORE
Image Credit: Jie Zhu, Buck Institute for Research on Aging and ScienceDaily.com