New stem cell therapy helping the blind

In a research study, a team of US surgeons injected 50,000 donated stem cells into one eye of two women suffering from untreatable forms of progressive blindness, the journal the Lancet reported on Monday.

Four months after the injections, one patient with Stargardt's disease, a type of blindness common in adolescents, saw demonstrably improved vision.

The other patient suffering from dry macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, also developed better vision.

The study was carried out by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles as well as scientists at the biotechnology company, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), to examine the effectiveness and safety of this type of stem cell therapy.

"Hopefully, this is just the beginning of many exciting new stem cell therapies that will move from bench to bedside in the next few years," said Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at ACT.

The positive outcome of the study in the US has paved way for the first trials in Europe, which began on January 24.

Twelve patients with the Stargardt's have been selected by British medical authorities to receive the transplant of progressively higher doses of the stem cells, at the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.