Scientists have fixed a hole in a monkey's retina with a patch derived from human stem cells.
This feat — described in a study published Oct. 3 in the journal Stem Cell Reports — is a step forward in retinal transplantation. The retina is the layer of light-detecting cells in the back of the eye, and damage and disease to the tissue can cause vision loss and blindness. Such conditions can be difficult to treat. Sometimes doctors can move part of the patient's own retina from its outer edges to the center, but this inevitably leads to blind spots in the periphery.
