The scientific community is seeing a glimmer of light for the visually impaired, thanks to an experiment which successfully grew eyes from stem cells.
The experiment involves a team of Japanese scientists who managed to trick ordinary cells known as " induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells)" into acting as if they were developing eye cells.
The researchers, led by Kohji Nishida of Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, managed to form using stem cells—known to be the body's master cells—four distinct zones consisting of different eye cell types.
They then transplanted these manufactured eye cells into rabbits, and the results were astonishing: the cells grew into cornea, or the transparent layer in front of the eye.
The research team is now planning to try their eye-growing technique on humans.
Commenting on the research published on the journal "Nature," ophthalmologist Dr. Julie Daniels of University College London said the experiment done by the Japanese scientists is promising, given the limitations of corneal transplants.
"Corneal transplantation has been the gold standard for restoring transparency since the first successful transplant in 1905," Daniels wrote in her comment.
"However, despite the fact that corneal transplants are less likely to induce an immune response than transplants to other sites in the body, grafts can be rejected by the host body within five years," she added.
She further said that these new findings may prove beneficial for those who suffer from eye diseases.
"As an alternative, the conversion of adult cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can develop into any cell type, could supply enough cells for therapy," she said.
The leading cause of blindness around the world is cataracts, which blurs or even impairs vision due to proteins in the eye that abnormally lumped together. Some 20 million individuals undergo surgery to remove cataracts across the globe every year.
