STEMMING THE TIDE OF BLINDNESS?

The first tests involving the use of embryonic stem cells in humans indicates that they may one day be used to help treat blindness. This possibility arises from treatment of two legally blind individuals, one with the “dry” form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and the other with Stargradt disease that causes serious vision loss. There is currently no cure for either condition. However, four months after each patient received an injection of embryonic stem cells in one eye, both patients demonstrated some improvement in reading progressively smaller print. Researchers are quick not to draw too much conclusion from the study (the change in the AMD patient may have been psychological), but it does provide hope.

P.S. The value of stem cells is that they can transform themselves into any cell in the body.

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