A RETINAL PATCH TO RESTORE VISION

A main cause of blindness is the death of the photoreceptor cells that carpet the retina that lines the eyeball’s interior. 
Scientists have found a way to grow new photoreceptor cells from stem cells.
The problem: how to distribute the receptor cells evenly along the retina instead of having them scatter randomly or just clump.
Now researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison have created an elegantly simple solution: a three-dimensional grid resembling a microscopic ice cube tray that can hold 300,000 receptor cells, about three times more than previous experimental structures could.
Each compartment in the tray is a tiny funnel. A photoreceptor cell can be placed in each one, then, over time, the cell will grow down through the funnel to become part of the wearer’s own retinal tissue and eyeball structure.
The tray is made from something called poly(glycerol-sebacate), a synthetic biomaterial that has the necessary strength and elasticity to hold the cells in place but that also will be absorbed by the body over about two months as the new receptor cells mature and take root.
The research team will test their creation in large animals some time in the next few months, then refine the structure for human trials.
TRENDPOST: By the middle of the next decade, macular degeneration and other retinal-based forms of blindness will be treatable with technologies such as this.
More broadly, by the middle of this century, stem cell technology should offer a range of replacement methods for various human parts, from retinas to entire organs.

An electron microscope image of the University of Wisconsin’s tray to hold photoreceptor cells.
Photo: University of Wisconsin