The treatment, given to four people with damaged corneas, seems safe but needs to be tested in larger trials.
By Smriti Mallapaty
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Close up view of a human eye during a slit lamp eye examination.
The transparent cornea is the outermost layer of the eye. Credit: Patrick Landmann/SPL
Three people with severely impaired vision who received stem-cell transplants have experienced substantial improvements in their sight that have persisted for more than a year. A fourth person with severely impaired vision also experienced gains in their sight, but they did not last. The four are the first to receive transplants made from reprogrammed stem cells to treat damaged corneas, the transparent outer surface of the eye1.
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Nature 635, 533-534 (2024)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03656-z
References
Soma, T. et al. Lancet https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01764-1 (2024).
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