It’s a mystery that has confounded scientists for many years: Why don’t mice with Usher syndrome type 1 — one of three types of combined blindness and deafness in humans — lose vision? It is an important question, because mouse models help us understand how vision is lost and how effective treatments might be. But if the mouse isn’t losing vision, how can we tell if a potential vision-saving therapy is working?
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Posts tagged Stem Cells
After a rigorous review process, the Foundation is funding eight new research projects for a wide range of conditions, including Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP). You can read about these exciting projects in an article recently posted on the Foundation’s homepage.
I was heartened to just learn that researchers from the Hadassah-Hebrew Medical Center in Jerusalem are receiving a $1.33 million grant from the Israeli government to advance their development of a stem cell treatment for people with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD Hadassah is also funded by the Foundation Fighting Blindness. We are providing the group with a three-year, $300,000 grant for development of stem cell therapies.
It seems there is no dearth of fantastic cures being touted on the Internet and in email inboxes these days. Sort of reminds me of those old Western movies where the itinerant peddler sells the magic elixir that will cure any and all ailments you have. Continue Reading…
I just learned some promising news from the stem cell research front. RIKEN, an innovative research group in Japan, is hoping to launch a clinical trial of an age-related macular degeneration (AMD) treatment derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). Based on my current knowledge, this would be the first-ever iPSC-based treatment for the retina to move into a human study.
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Video Included:
We live in a time when it’s often easier and cheaper to replace something than to fix it. Whether you have a broken TV, camera or vacuum cleaner, you’re more likely to buy a new one than to take it into the shop to have it repaired. Often, you don’t have much of a choice; there aren’t many repair shops left.
I am pleased to report that Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) just received institutional review board approval to add Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida, as a clinical trial site for its stem-cell-derived treatment for people with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Bascom Palmer has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the best ophthalmology hospital in the U.S. for the last eight years, so they are no doubt a valuable addition to the study.
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Photograph by Andy Manis.
When I joined the University of Wisconsin (UW) in 2003, I saw stem cell research as having great potential to benefit patients with retinal degenerations. I also saw stem cells as a way to answer basic science questions about the retina and the conditions that affect it. As a scientist and a pediatric ophthalmologist, these goals were really important to me.
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Tel Aviv, Israel
Next week is a big week for both me and the Foundation. I’ll be heading to Israel, for the first time in my life, to visit with Foundation business and research partners. So the next couple blog posts you see will come straight from places like Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Steve is highly respected for his expertise and tireless commitment to finding treatments and cures for vision-robbing retinal diseases. 
As the Foundation's senior science writer, Ben writes science and research articles for the Foundation’s website, newsletters and Eye on the Cure blog. 
As the Foundation's senior writer, Rich writes and edits content for all of the Foundation’s print and online publications, including its blog, Eye on the Cure. 
An Incremental but Important Step in Stem Cell Transplantation
By Dr. Steve Rose on April 20, 2012 | 2 Comments
A highly-magnified image of photoreceptors, also known as rods and cones, in the human retina.
So, here I am catching up on some journal reading, when Nature sends out an eblast touting new exciting advances in stem cell work, including a paper about the eye. Of course, I immediately jump to the site and find a research paper published online that reports on the modestly successful transplantation of precursor rod cells — cells that are more developed than stem cells but not quite mature rod cells — into mice with night blindness (congenital stationary night blindness). While vision improvement was not dramatic, the treated mice did see better in dim lighting; they were able to navigate a water maze in greatly reduced light much better than untreated mice. Continue Reading…