Mini-retina

In another step toward reversing degenerative vision loss, scientists said Tuesday they had coaxed stem cells into growing into a tiny, light-sensing retina in a lab dish.

The study is an important technical feat in using reprogrammed cells [i.e., iPS cells], whose discovery in 2006 [in Japan] has unleashed huge interest, they said.

“We have basically created a miniature human retina in a dish that not only has the architectural organization of the retina but also has the ability to sense light,” said Valeria Canto-Soler of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.

“Is our lab retina capable of producing a visual signal that the brain can interpret into an image? Probably not, but this is a good start,” Canto-Solder said in a press release.