On the heels of a UCSF stem cell researcher being given an international award for his discovery of a technique that can transform skin cells into “pluripotent” stem cells without the need to use human embryos (a big point of contention for many people surrounding stem cell research), there’s even more good news coming out of Italy on the stem cell front.
According to MSNBC, Italian researchers reported on Wednesday that more than 75 percent of people in a study who had been blinded or had their eyes severely damaged from accidents had their sight restored courtesy of their own stem cells. Of the 107 eyes that were treated, sight returned completely in 82 of them and partially in another 14. One of the men, whose eyes had been damaged in 1948, now has “near-normal vision.”
The procedure involves taking stem cells from the healthy eye of a patient (or even the healthy part of a damaged eye), putting those cells into an incubator, where the cells would multiply, then using those newly created cells to replace the damaged cells. The added advantage is, because they are from the person’s own body, no anti-rejection drugs are necessary. As opthamologist Dr. Ivan Schwab (who wasn’t involved in the study) was quoted regarding the study results, “This is a roaring success.” In commenting about people who took part in the study, one of the study’s leaders, Graziella Pellegrini of the University of Modena’s Center for Regenerative Medicine, said, “They were incredibly happy. Some said it was a miracle.”
While this procedure can’t reverse the blindness of those who are completely blind (due to the need for healthy cells) or those with retinal damage, it does give hope to people who have suffered chemical burns in their eyes, something that happens to thousands of people around the world each year.
Photo by waveking1 via Flickr.