Stem Cells for Reversing Blindness

An Italian study using the person's own limbal corneal stem cells to grow new corneal tissue has resulted in restoring sight to a recipient who had been blind for 50 years.  The ability to grow new corneas opens the possibility to grow new retinal tissue, reversing blindness, providing nerve cells have not been damaged.

The treatment restored sight to more than three-quarters of the 112 patients treated, said lead researcher,  Dr. Graziella Pelligrini of the University of Modena’s Center for Regenerative Medicine. Patients were followed for 3-10 years.

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