World-first stem-cell treatment restores vision in people
The treatment, given to four people with damaged corneas, seems safe but needs to be tested in larger trials . Originally published by Smriti Mallapaty at Nature, on 8 November 2024 The transparent cornea is the outermost layer of the eye. Credit: Patrick Landmann/SPL Three people with severely impaired vision who received stem-cell transplants have experienced s ubstantial improvements in their sigh t that have persisted f or more than a year . A fourth person with severely impaired vision also experienced gains in their sight, but they did not last . The four are the first to receive transplants made from reprogrammed stem cells to treat damaged cornea s, the transparent outer surface of the eye 1 . The results, described in The Lancet today, are impressive, says Kapil Bharti, a translational stem-cell researcher at the US National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Maryland. “This is an exciting development.” “ The results merit treating more...