New attempt to reverse blindness

• May 4, 2024

For the second time in history, the Food and Drug Administration of the United States (FDA) authorizes a human trial of a therapy developed on the basis of embryonic stem cell .

In an interview with the CNN television channel, William Caldwell, executive director of Advanced Cell Technology(Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) of Massachusetts, said that 366 days after completing the application, his signature received approval from the FDA to begin the clinical trial using cells created from embryonic stem cell .

The treatment will be for a degenerative hereditary eye disease. In this regard, Caldwell commented: "The real work is coming now, getting the test started, we hope that the first patients can register for the first quarter of 2011."

The company hopes to find a cure for the Macular dystrophy of Stargardt , the most common form of juvenile macular degeneration, for which there is currently no cure. It affects about one in 10 thousand children.

People with this disease lose their view between eight and 10 years of age and may be left blind by the time they reach 30, says Caldwell.

The cells that patients will receive are not pure human embryonic stem cells, but converted into healthy cells of Retinal Pigmentary Epithelium (EPR).

EPR cells are found naturally in the neural retina and it is his death that leads to blindness in patients with macular degeneration. ACT reported that their animal studies managed to restore vision after these new RPE cells were injected.

If the treatment works, Caldwell believes it will be applied against other diseases that lead to blindness , including macular degeneration by aging , that affects millions of people and that will increase while the people born in the generation of baby boom (1946-1964) follow getting old .  

Video Medicine: Gene therapy to reverse blindness Video Reuters (May 2024).