Using Stem Cells to Treat Retinal Disease

I am currently reading "Crashing Through" which has made me think a lot about the day when doctors are able to restore my vision. I have already told you about the artificial retina, which one day may provide usable vision for people like me, but this is not the only technique that researchers are looking at to restore vision. Another promising technique may be the use of stem cells.

Recently, researchers at the University of Wisconsin Madison, have been able to make retinal cells from two different kinds of stem cells. The two types included embryonic and adult skin cells. Turning adult skin cells into retinal cells is of particular interest, because it might mean that new retinal cells could be created from a patients own body. When you use tissue from the patient in a transplant, there is little or no chance of rejection. At this point the researchers are at the beginning stages of learning what these break throughs mean. For now, they want to continue to study the development of these new retinal cells, and then they hope to see if there is a way to restore vision.

This to me is very exciting. Even if it is 10 years or more down the road before they're using these stem cells in patients, it is another possibility that I may have my vision restored.

To learn more about the research visit this link.