Stem Cell Contact Lenses Cure Blindness in Less Than a Month
Here’s something that people with poor or no vision will be excited about: three patients had their sight restored in less than a month by contact lenses cultured with stem cells at UNSW
All three patients were blind in one eye. The researchers extracted stem cells from their working eyes, cultured them in contact lenses for 10 days, and gave them to the patients. Within 10 to 14 days of use, the stem cells began recolonising and repairing the cornea. “The procedure is totally simple and cheap,” said lead author of the study, UNSW’s Dr Nick Di Girolamo. “Unlike other techniques, it requires no foreign human or animal products, only the patient’s own serum, and is completely non-invasive.
This is incredible and potentially game changing. It’s stuff like this that makes you realise that we live in the future, and it’s awesome.