Posted: July 14, 2011 08:30 AM ET
Summary:
The Washington Post reports researchers have treated the first two patients in the second government-authorized attempt to evaluate a therapy created using human embryonic stem cells to treat Stargardt Macular Dystrophy, a progressive form of blindness:
Researchers have treated the first two patients in the second government-authorized attempt to evaluate a therapy created using human embryonic stem cells in the United States. A team led by Steven Schwartz at UCLA administered about 50,000 cells Tuesday into one eye of a volunteer suffering from Stargardt Macular Dystrophy, a progressive form of blindness that usually begins in childhood, and another with Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the developed world, Advanced Cell Technology, which is sponsoring the study, announced Thursday.
