Stem-cell transfer breakthrough raises hopes for blindness cure (WOW!)

[TexasLawyer]

Exciting new development from an Anglo-American research team. Even more reason to listen to Michael J. Fox!

9 November 2006 01:35

Stem-cell transfer breakthrough raises hopes for blindness cure

By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Published: 09 November 2006

A breakthrough in restoring sight to the blind has been made with a study showing that a damaged eye can be repaired by transplanting light-sensitive cells. The results of an experiment on laboratory mice have been so successful, scientists believe clinical trials on blind people could start within 10 years.

If the breakthrough can be developed further it could lead to new forms of treatment for the 300,000 visually impaired people in Britain who suffer from age-related macular degeneration and the thousands of blind children with inherited diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa.

Mice that were born blind because of a genetic condition were able to see light for the first time after a revolutionary transplant operation involving stem cells ­ the key cells that develop into the light-sensitive tissue of the eye's retina.

The scientists behind the research believe that it is the first time that nerve cells at the back of eye have been successfully transplanted to restore vision, a development that promises to help millions of blind people throughout the world. "The most important thing is the principle that it can be done," said Robert MacLaren, a consultant surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, who was part of the Anglo-American research team.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1962699.ece

[MADem]

1. NO!!!!!!!!!!! This is AMAZING!!!!!! What GREAT NEWS!!!!!!

Wow, I hope they can actually make it work...this is tremendous news!

We've discovered a biological principle, a healing mechanism that we can take advantage of, but it's still a long way to go before we can apply this to people. We are now confident that this is the avenue to pursue to uncover ways of restoring vision to thousands who have lost their sight."

The study, published in the journal Nature, involved blind mice that were born without light-sensitive "photoreceptors", which detect light when it reaches the retina and send the appropriate signals to the brain via the optic nerve.

Stem cells from the eyes of normal mouse foetuses were cultured in the laboratory before being transplanted to the eyes of the blind mice. Tests showed the stem cells developed into mature photoreceptors of the retina and could transmit signals to the brain.

Previous attempts at transplanting stem cells to a damaged retina had failed, it is believed, because the cells were too immature. The key difference with the latest research is that stem cells were transplanted after they had already developed along the route to becoming photoreceptors, Mr MacLaren said.

"We got them at the point of no return. It is the first time anyone has shown that it is possible to transfer photoreceptors successfully and timing was crucial," he said.

[Crayson]

2. Wait a minute... hate to rip away your hope...

i once had a deaf girl friend and discussed similar things.

There are two different kind of blind people.
A) Gone blind sometime during their life
B) Born blind

For people GONE blind, who had seen before, this cure might work.

For people BORN blind it won't accomplish much to just restore the functionality of the eye or a cut nerve.
These people have never seen and therefor certain brain regions have never been stimulated and not properly developed during their early childhood.
So even if the eye works and the nerves start sending signals to the brain, the brain a) can't receive it or b) if it receives the signals, can't interpret them into a picture.
Imagine a picture processing software. Just fixing the camera hardware doesn't work, you need the software too.

The brain paths that are fixed in early childhood are very hard to change as an adult. You can witness this in the case of brain damaged people. Once a brain path is damaged the brain can't just "reroute" its processing path ways. It takes weeks, months, years or decades for coma patients to reconfigure their brains... and many of them never wake up anymore because it's impossible for them.



But I still agree; It's of course an amazing biological breakthrough!

[SoCalDem]

3. My poor old eyes would love a chance to see better

My right eye is lovingly referred to by mor Opthalmologist as the "train-wreck"..and the eye disease that ruined it has spread to my (formerly) good eye.:(

It's under control most of the time, but I know that I will eventually lose most of my sight:cry:

[Crayson]

4. Keep hoping and keep yourself informed

I certainly hope this new medical breakthroughs provide you with an option to save your eyesight.

Myself I have an immune system disease that gives you arthritic pains in different joints.

[Katzenjammer]

11. Possibly not. There's at least one case of a man with congenital cataracts in the UK

who in (iirc) his 50s got the cataracts removed. Like the person referred to in another post, below, he had to teach himself the meaning of the images he could now see. He succeeded.

I can't find a reference to his case, but the pdf at web.mit.edu/bcs/sinha/papers/Vision_after_Blindness.pdf gives the case of a 12yo Indian girl who, born blind from thick cataracts, learned how to see after surgery.

[Duppers]

5. Hope, finally.

My mom is legally bind due to macular degeneration. But since she's 82, she'll probably be dead before this is offered in this country.

Thanks for this info. I'll pass it on.

[Spinzonner]

6. Wet or Dry ?

There are some new drugs to treat the wet variety, pretty expensive though.

[Duppers]

7. dry

Bad genetics. Her father had the same problem. Both have/had stunning blue eyes. Mine are brown and I'm hoping I don't have the gene. She also never wore sunglasses in her life and use to water ski in the summer and had lots of exposure to bright sunlight. I never go out without sunglasses. My fingers are crossed, hoping I don't become a victim too. So far, so good.

Thanks for asking. :)

[Lurking Dem]

8. Amazing!

My husband's Uncle, who is the sweetest man I think I have ever met, is almost completely blind from macular degeneration.

As to the "mice that were born blind" thing, I think they developed mice that were born without those cells in order to test the postulate. Which is entirely different from people that are born blind.

[Javaman]

9. I read this story some years ago about this guy that was blind for 30 years...

then got his sight back. Researchers and therapists found out that sight is not an inherent trait, it has to be learned.

Things that were pretty ordinary, the man couldn't identify until he closed his eyes and felt them.

After about 2 years of trying, he finally gave up, put his dark sunglasses on and continued with his life. He worked as a machinist.

I think this break through is amazing and will work with people who haven't had loss of sight for very long.

People who were born without the ability or have experienced long term loss, oddly, I don't think will experience sight as a huge "benefit". I could be wrong.

[Oak2004]

13. You're right

That's true in fact for most people with born- rather than recently acquired disabilities: if whatever it is has been an integral part of yourself, then taking it away feels less like a benefit than like a deprivation.

[goclark]

10. I am crying I am so touched

My Mom is 88 years old and had a cornea transplant that helped her see for about two years.

She still has vision in the other eye but not in the left now.

But that is just my story.
My Mom is BLESSED.

This is going to be a blessing for all those who have no sight.

Great news!!!!

Bless Michael J, Fox and all of the others that have shed LIGHT in order to give LIGHT to so many.

[fishnfla]

12. This is already being done with corneal stem cells and it works

I have seen it myself. It is amazing. They use adult stem cells though.

Could I just say, someone very close to fishnfla knows alot about this and deals with macular degeneration everyday. Embryonic retinal stem cells make alot of sense, since they are dealing with damge done at the cellular level and the tissue arises from the very basic neuroectoderm cells.....
this person I know has told his or her patients with ARMD, who always ask about the latest breakthroughs and are desperate for help: stem cells hold promise!

The reactions are inneresting: either silence as they no doubt consider whom they voted for, or this common response: 'yeah, if we could only get rid of that SOB in the white house'...this/these person(s) have probably turned more voters in the last 6 years than anyone else I know. In fact they have a regular routine on it. Its always good to offer hope and work for change ;).

This article is now being printed out and put to good use, Thanks for the link.

The chimp worries about his legacy: I guarantee you that within a generation people are just gonna shake their heads and say: stone age dinosaur

EDIT TO ADD: any savvy investors out there?

[Igel]

14. Is federal funding for fetal stem-cell researched limited,

too?

I know funding's restricted for embryonic stem-cell research, but fetal stem-cell research dropped off my radar screen.