Source: University of Gothenburg
Date: February 1, 2012
Summary:
A new cornea may be the only way to prevent a patient going blind -- but there is a shortage of donated corneas and the queue for transplantation is long. Scientists at the Sahlgrenska Academy have for the first time successfully cultivated stem cells on human corneas, which may in the long term remove the need for donators. Their study is now published in the journal Acta Ophthalmologica, and shows how human stem cells can be caused to develop into what are known as "epithelial cells" after 16 days' culture in the laboratory and a further 6 days' culture on a cornea.
Scientists are hailing the discovery as the first step towards being able to use stem cells to treat damaged corneas. They also note that if a routine method is established to carry out the procedure, the availability of material for patients who need a new cornea will be essentially unlimited. Both the surgical procedures and the aftercare will also become much more simple
