"Retina in a Dish"
One of the most devastating disability is the lost of sight or blindness. Since most disease involving blindness are incurable and reversible, it is critical to develop ways to promote a future for those has have lost the ability to see. Researchers in Japan have developed the world’s first artificial retina using rat stem cells. To this day, this is the most complex bio-engineered tissue in existence consisting of not only the retina but a separate layer for pigmentation that covers it. Of course, the retinas created are for rats but if this same method can be translated to humans in the future, it could be a groundbreaking development in the area of ocular diseases. Even if these retinas cannot enter a phrase that allows for implantation, they can still be used to further the understanding of eye disease and lead to betters methods to tackle them. The retinas themselves are developed in the RIKEN Center of Developmental Biology. The retinas are made when rat embryonic stems are mixed with nutrients that promote them to develop not only into retina cells but to form together to make complete an optic cup. Even so, there are still many uncertainties on whether these retinas can be implanted, which is the ultimate goal. Restrictions such as whether these retinas can properly react with the brain and ethical problems such as using human embryonic stems cells.
Although the loss of sight isn’t a fatal disability, it can still severely cripple one’s way of life. The ability to cure eye diseases lies within the capacity to understand how they work and how they can be prevented. The idea of actual eye replacement is still too far off in the future for those who are suffering from illness today but the idea that we can use these retinas to actually develop alternative ways for cures while gaining knowledge of how to deal with it is the more exciting prospect and the reason why I found this article to be interesting.
posted by Angdi Liu at 10:26 PM
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