Corneal Blindness: Stem Cells May Provide Alternative Cure

There could be an alternative to corneal transplantation to cure blindness, thanks to collaborative research findings by a research team from India and the US.

The animal studies conducted on the efficacy of using stem cells to treat scarring of whitening of cornea, the central dark portion of the eye, in curing blindness gave positive results, Sayan Basu, consultant corneal surgeon and scientist, LV Prasad Eye Institute (LEPEI), told newspersons on Thursday.

Basu is working along with James L Funderburgh, Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in a collaborative research project.

The results of the animal studies have been published on Thursday in the latest issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine. “We found that when the stem cells were applied to damaged corneas, they healed and became clear again within four weeks of treatment while those untreated remained clouded,” he said.

‘Long way’

However, there is still a long way to go. Phase I clinical studies involving 10 patients at LVPEI are currently underway and might take another six months to be completed.

“We still need to figure out whether the same set of desired results could be achieved in human patients and also the required dosage,” Funderburgh, speaking from the US through Skype said.

Second phase 

Phase II clinical trials will have to be conducted. If all goes well, patients might be in a position to gain from this innovation after about three years.

“But, once proved, it will help treating corneal blindness in most cases at nominal cost,” Basu said. At present, the cost of corneal replacement ranges from ₹50,000 to ₹1.5 lakh. There are nearly 1.40 lakh patients in the waiting lists to receive corneas for transplantation in the country now, he added.

Source by : http://goo.gl/Yqs6Cm

Scientists Create Artificial Human Sperm, Eggs From Stem Cells

Scientists from Cambridge University have created artificial human eggs and sperm for the first time, using human embryonic stem cells and skin cells.

While this process was previously achieved in rats, this is the first time it has been done with humans. The findings were published in the journal 'Cell.'

However, the end result was not working sperm and eggs, but so-called germ cells that could potentially mature to become viable for fertility.

“Germ cells are ‘immortal’ in the sense that they provide an enduring link between all generations, carrying genetic information from one generation to the next,” Azim Surani, professor of physiology and reproduction at the University of Cambridge, said in a press release.

In biology, when an egg is fertilized by sperm, it divides into a group of cells called a blastocyst, which then develops into a foetus or the placenta.

Some cells become stem cells, which can then develop into any cell in the body. Some of these will become germ cells, and will then become sperm or eggs.

The scientists identified a gene known as SOX17, which decides which cells become sperm and egg cells. They then harvested these cells by culturing human embryonic stem cells for five days.

However, this doesn’t mean that men and women can donate any cells instead of sperm and eggs when they visit a fertility clinic – but the scientists hope the experiment will shed more light on the study of human genetics.

The research also gives scientists another way to examine how the environment impacts genes, such as how behavioural factors – like smoking and what we eat – can activate or deactivate genes.

The study of how genes are affected by environmental factors is known as epigenetic, and scientists hope it will give them a better understanding of cancer and other age-related illnesses.