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Friday, September 17, 2004
Bone Marrow Stem Cells Prevent Sight Loss in Mice with RP
Injecting stem cells into the eyes of mice with retinitis pigmentosa has helped prevent vision loss according to Martin Friedlander at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California and his team ('Stem cells stop mice going blind', News @ Nature.com, 16 September 2004). The stem cells are taken from the mice's own bone marrow. The researchers hope to trial the treatment in humans as soon as possible:
Friedlander hopes that the sight of human patients with retinitis pigmentosa could be sustained with injections of their own stem cells, harvested from their bone marrow. In humans, the deterioration of the eye doesn't tend to start until adolescence or later. "We're running to the clinic with this," he says. He hopes to start work on patients as early as a year from now, if he can accumulate enough evidence that the technique is safe.
News @ Nature.com
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