Response: Stem Cell Therapy Reverses Blindness 10

I'm so pleased to hear that they have begun running human trials for stem cell research. Until now I had only been able to find articles saying that they were hoping to, or had been given permission to, run the trials. The incredible success of all 8 patients is a great step forward for stem cell research. Hopefully the success will help to gather more supporters and even more grants for stem cell, as well as hESC research.

I found this article very interesting as a follow up article. I had some background knowledge on scientists hoping to repair blindness through stem cell research from a previous article. The news that the trials were a success is very exciting. It's one thing to have a theory for what stem cells are capable of doing, and another to have it proven.

The contrast between the earlier article on stem cells repairing blindness, and the current article show the leaps and bounds that stem cell research is quickly making. The progression in the research seems to be mostly positive, and with new funding and loosened restriction, hopefully the research will be allowed to go even further.

Notes: Stem Cell Therapy Reverses Blindness 10

An experimental trial was conducted on 8 patients.

All patients had a form of blindness, and volunteered to be a part of the study.

One patient, Russell Turnball...

• injury due to chemical burns

• pain upon blinking

• clouded vision

• sensitive to light

• chemicals had burned his limbal cells in his cornea

What was done...

limal cells were taken from the other eye (which had not suffered chemical burns) and they used as a template to recreate artificial cells.

the artificial cells were then applied to "human amniotic membrane- a tissue that provides fetal support." After this was done scientists were able to surgically place the new cells over the damaged part of Russell Turnball's cornea.

The procedure was a success, and Russell Turnball's vision has been almost completely restored.

The 7 other patients experienced similar results. Their sight had been restored (for the most part) only 19 months after the procedure. This experiment was very successful.