Stem cell transplant gives hope for treating age-related sight loss
A monkey that performed poorly on vision tests did much better after having a stem cell transplant to patch up holes in its retina
By Carissa Wong
3 October 2024
Holes in the retina can make vision patchy or blurred
CHRISTOPH BURGSTEDT/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
A transplant of human stem cells sealed a hole in a monkey’s retina, which seems to have improved its vision, offering hope for a new approach to treat a type of age-related sight loss.
As we age, a clear gel-like fluid in the eye can thicken and tug on the retina. This can tear holes in the tissue, causing blurred or patchy vision. Doctors can usually transfer tissue from other parts of the eye into the retinal holes, but in some cases, they reoccur.
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To test other approaches, Michiko Mandai at the Kobe City Eye Hospital in Japan and her colleagues grew stem cells derived from a human embryo into cells that were precursors of retinal cells.
They transferred the precursor cells into a 1-millimetre-wide hole in the retina of the right eye of a snow monkey that had struggled in vision tests in a different study.
Mandai’s team trained the monkey to complete a sight test, using only its right eye, that required it to fix its gaze on one of hundreds of dots as they flashed up on a screen.
