by Maggie Harrison Dupré – Neoscope –
Scientists have successfully used human stem cells to patch a hole in a monkey’s retina, restoring the primate’s vision and marking a successful step forward in the quest to treat age-related vision loss.
As detailed in a study published this month in the journal Stem Cell Reports, the team led by Michiko Mandai at the Kobe City Eye Hospital in Japan focused on fixing what’s called a macular hole, an ocular condition associated with aging. As we get older, the vitreous — the gel-like fluid that fills human eyeballs and maintains their rounded shapes — shrinks away from the retina, which sometimes causes a tear in the macula.
