Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Scientists Grow Corneal Tissue

“A team of scientists from several Harvard-affiliated centers in Boston, MA, has grown human corneal tissue in mice using adult-derived human stem cells. They believe their breakthrough will bring hope to people who have impaired or lost vision due to burns, chemical injuries, or eye diseases that damage the cornea,” reports Medical News Today. “Dr. Bruce Ksander, associate professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, and also of Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, and colleagues write about their work - the first known example of tissue grown from a human stem cell - in the journal Nature. The cells that make up the cornea - the transparent ‘window’ of tissue at the front of the eye - are constantly damaged from blinking and exposure to the outside world. To repair the damage, the eye maintains a small number of ‘limbal stem cells’ at the edge of the cornea.” Read more.

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