Physicians breed corneas from induced pluripotent stem cells

Hope for people with cataracts, new method reduces rejection risk
Researchers have now succeeded in producing a human cornea (cornea in the eye) artificially. The scientists bred the cornea from induced pluripotent stem cells. This new method could potentially replace the damaged eye lenses of patients with cataracts.

When people get cataracts, they suffer a slow, painless loss of visual acuity. In most cases, such a damaged lens can then be surgically replaced with an artificial implant. Scientists have now developed a method to grow new human cornea from stem cells. The scientists published the results of their work in the journal "Nature"

Researchers are breeding new hornetut from induced pluripotent stem cells. New hope for cataract patients. (Image: mmphoto / Fotolia.com)

New method could make artificial implants redundant
The medical profession was now able to breed a human cornea from induced pluripotent stem cells. Thus, in the future, cataract patients may be able to get a new artificially grown cornea to see properly, the researchers say. Perfectly functioning cornea and lenses must be absolutely transparent. Sometimes, however, they become opaque (not transparent) due to a disease or age. Such body parts must then be replaced by artificial implants, explain the doctors. However, the procedures used for this entail their risks. In some cases, the implants are rejected by the body of the recipient. In such cases, stem cells may provide new hope for those affected. These are taken from the patient's own body, which limits the risk of rejection, the doctors add.

Scientists developed a new method to remove damaged eye lenses
Stem cells are primitive cells that become different specialized cells. These then form our various organs. Until a few years ago, there was only one way to gain stem cells, they had to be taken from human embryos, the doctors explain. A thoroughly controversial practice, as it required the destruction of the embryo. But scientists have now developed induced pluripotent stem cells, which consist of old cells that revert to an earlier, more versatile state, the experts explain. The scientists from the United States and China developed a new way to remove a damaged eye lens. Thus, the clouded lenses could be replaced in humans with cataracts. The current surgical method leaves a large incision that can easily inflame, say doctors. In the new procedure, a team extracts the damaged lens through a much smaller hole. Then naturally occurring stem cells are stimulated to construct a new lens. The procedure was already successful in rabbits and macaques, and was later used on 12 human children, the researchers add.

Cataract is the most common cause of blindness in the world
Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in the world. Each year, more than 20 million cataract patients are treated worldwide. However, the current process accidentally destroys the integrity of the lens capsule and the so-called LECs, which contain the regenerative key to restore the lens, say the experts. We have developed a new, minimally invasive surgical procedure that allows the regeneration of a functional lens, the experts add. Researchers in Japan and Cardiff, in another study, attempted to create human eye cells from induced pluripotent stem cells, which they then grew into a healthy cornea in a laboratory and then implanted in rabbits. Whether one of the two therapies results in cornea or lens transparency remaining intact over the long term is still uncertain, the doctors say.