Stem Cells Give Hope...

Sue 1Member

Most of this information is from the 'Globe and Mail', Tuesday, November 30, 2010

In Toronto, Canada modern medicine pioneers and researchers at the University of Toronto have restored to sight to the eyes of 3 blind mice. This research is a step toward restoring sight in people.
The basic biology of the human eye is the same as in the mouse.
Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in people over 60; this creates a market for any stem cell treatment that can slow or reverse this disease.
Embrionic stem cells can grow into all body's tissue types.
The Toronto team is harvesting retinal stem cells from eye donors within 24 hours of their death. The cells are then chemically coaxed to become photoreceptors and injected into the retinas of their specifically bred blind mice.

I hope that this research will be continued to restore the eyesight of so many blind people.

11/30/101:03 PM

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IndaMerit-Amun

Thank you for this information Sue.
This is wonderful news and I hope that the research will continue.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a chronic condition that causes central vision loss. It affects millions of people. In fact, it is a leading cause of blindness in people 60 and older. The older you are, the greater your chance of being affected.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com...mans/article1818396/

The Toronto group is hardly alone in its ambitions. Helping the blind to see has become one of the hottest areas of stem cell research. Across Canada, scientists have teamed up to regenerate human eye tissue with adult stem cells and those reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells. Drug giant Pfizer Inc., in one of big pharma’s first forays into stem cells, is backing Britain’s Project to Cure Blindness. And this month, in a rare move, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave a Massachusetts company permission for an embryonic stem cell trial to treat Stargardt macular dystrophy, a form of hereditary blindness.

“The progress of the last three years has been incredible,” says Sharon Colle, CEO of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, which helps fund Canada’s stem cell researchers, including Prof. van der Kooy’s team.

11/30/101:08 PM

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Vicky2Member

Thank you Sue.

This is very good research.
I know someone with macular degeneration, and I hope that they will find a treatment for humans soon, before it is too late for this person.

Love,
Vicky

12/1/1012:46 PM

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TeoAvatar State

quote:
Originally posted by dear Vicky2:
Thank you Sue.

This is very good research.

Amen and AWOMEN!

12/1/103:09 PM

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Sue 1Member

I just mentioned the stemcell research to Gisele, and she is very hopeful that at some point it will benefit her. Her eyesight is getting bad. She had large doses of sunlight damaging her eyes when she lived in North Africa. The sunglasses were not UV protective and actually caused a lot of damage, since it opened the pupils wider allowing more sunlight to enter the eyes.

Love,
Sue

12/6/101:06 PM

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yokoMember

Thank you Sue,

this is very exciting news. I hope that Gisele will be able to benefit from this technique.

Love,
yoko

12/10/108:21 PM

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Sue 1Member

Wikipedia:

Stem-cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition.

Bone marrow transplant is the most widely used stem-cell therapy, but some therapies derived from umbilical cord blood are also in use. Research is underway to develop various sources for stem cells, and to apply stem-cell treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and conditions, diabetes, heart disease, and other conditions.

With the ability of scientists to isolate and culture embryonic stem cells, and with scientists' growing ability to create stem cells using somatic cell nuclear transfer and techniques to create induced pluripotent stem cells, controversy has crept in, both related to abortion politics and to human cloning. Additionally, efforts to market treatments based on transplant of stored umbilical cord blood have been controversial.

4/25/1612:49 PM

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Vicky2Member

Thank you Sue.

Stem cell therapy gives hope for many conditions.

4/26/161:22 PM

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