Eye in a dish: Scientists grow light-sensitive retina using stem cells

Using genetically reprogrammed adult stem cells, scientists copied processes that occur in the womb to create eye tissue.

12:04 11 June 2014

Scientists have taken the first step towards restoring sight in the blind. 

 

Using genetically reprogrammed adult stem cells, they copied processes that occur in the womb to create eye tissue, which responded to light the same way it does in the eye. 

 

Dr Valeria Canto-Soler, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland, said: 'We have basically created a miniature human retina in a dish that not only has the architectural organisation of the retina but also has the ability to sense light.

 

'The work advances opportunities for vision-saving research and may ultimately lead to technologies that restore vision in people with retinal diseases.'

 

She added: “We knew that a 3D cellular structure was necessary if we wanted to reproduce functional characteristics of the retina.”

 

'But when we began this work, we didn’t think stem cells would be able to build up a retina almost on their own. In our system, somehow the cells knew what to do.'

 

She confirmed that the new technique may pave the way to generate hundreds of mini-retinas at a time from a person affected by blinding diseases. 

 

In the long term, diseased or dead retinal tissue could be replaced by laboratory-grown cells to restore vision, Dr Canto-Soler added.