Pioneering Trial Helps Blind Patients

摘要

Neither patient set out to make history, but that's what two Southern Californian women with progressive, incurable blindness have done. As participants in the only trial of its kind approved in the U.S., the women- one with dry macular degeneration and the other with Stargardt's macular dystrophy-each received a dose of 50,000 retinal cells made from human embryonic stem cells. These come from embryos and have the unique ability to turn into any cell in the body, thus potentially curing disease. The early results show that the treatment is safe-the cells aren't forming tumors, nor are they wandering off to create problems in other parts of the body. As an added bonus, they may be improving the patients' sight. "It's more than I can hope for," says one of the women, whose vision improved to 20/800.