'Mini-Retina' Created in Lab Dish

Scientists said Tuesday that they coaxed stem cells into growing into a tiny, light-sensing retina in a lab dish, another step towards reversing degenerative vision loss.

The study is an important technical feat in using reprogrammed cells, whose discovery in 2006 has unleashed huge interest, they said.

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"We have basically created a miniature human retina in a dish that not only has the architectural organisation of the retina but also has the ability to sense light," said Valeria Canto-Soler of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.

The work is the latest advance towards the goal of creating transplant cells that reverse damage to the retina, the light-capturing surface on the back of the eyeball.

Stem cells are infant cells that develop, or differentiate, into the various tissues of the body.

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Until 2006, the big focus was on stem cells culled from early-stage embryos, which are highly versatile but also ethically controversial.

That changed with the discovery in Japan of so-called human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), which are adult cells that have been reprogrammed to return to a youthful, pre-differentiated state.

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Experiments in a lab dish, however remarkable, still need to be validated in tests on humans before they can be incorporated into medical practice.

"Is our lab retina capable of producing a visual signal that the brain can interpret into an image? Probably not, but this is a good start," Canto-Solder said in a press release.

Japan last year gave the green light for the world's first trial on humans of iPS cells for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which causes blindness in older people.

Six patients with AMD will be recruited in a four-year trial.

Source-AFP