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Recent studies funded by the Medical Research Council have found that extracting and converting stem cells from human eyes have restored a degree of vision to blind rats in laboratories. The find is hoped to be a significant stepping stone in the treatment of glaucoma related blindness in humans.
Blindness from the eye disease glaucoma can occur through damage to the ganglion cells in the human as an effect of pressure building up in the eye from the condition. These cells' function in the eye controls the carrying and relaying of signals and information from the retina to the brain. It is this destructive process caused by glaucoma that stops the brain being able to convert images from the eye into vision. The study undertaken by UCL and Moorfields Eye Hospital involved the implanting of new ganglion cells into the the eyes of rats which did not have these cells present, in essence replicating the scenario of humans who have lost their sight due to glaucoma related damage.
In order to begin this research, stem cells were taken from the eyes of donated human eyes upon death. These cells, Muller glia stem cells, were harvested and converted into ganglion cells before they were then implanted into the laboratory rats' eyes. Upon further testing, the rats, which were unable to see to any degree before hand, showed signs of being able to detect light following the treatment. Although the experiment hadn't worked exactly as planned by connecting with the optic nerve as nature would anticipate, the new cells integrated with other retinal nerves in order to begin passing information to the brain. Although a small improvement, researchers believe this to be a giant leap forward for sufferers of such diseases as they look to continue their studies before leaning towards treating humans in such a way, albeit in the distant future.