Jab to heal the blind: Stem cell trial brings hope to millions
A jab to cure blindness is to be piloted in an NHS hospital.
Twelve young patients who suffer from hereditary sight loss will have millions of embryo stem cells injected into their eyes.Older people with age-related macular degeneration could be treated as early as next year.
The landmark trial, the first in Europe, will focus on checking whether the one-jab treatment is safe, rather than effective.
However if later trials replicate the ‘phenomenal’ results of tests on animals, the lives of millions could be transformed.
Even a small improvement in vision could help patients carry out everyday tasks such as reading and hugely improve their quality of life.The use of stem cells from an embryo in the first days of life remains controversial. Pro-life campaigners say it is wrong to ‘plunder an unborn child for spare parts’.
But Advanced Cell Technology, an American biotech firm, announced yesterday that watchdogs have given it permission to carry out a trial at London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital.
The first of 12 patients in the advanced stages of Stargardt’s disease, an incurable hereditary condition that robs people of their sight from their teens, will be treated by the end of this year.
Stem cells that have been turned into healthy versions of the damaged retinal cells will be injected into the back of the eye in an hour-long operation.
It is unclear how much the trial will help those taking part, as they are in the advanced stage of the disease. All are in their teens or 20s.
The eventual goal is to treat patients early in the disease process to stop them ever going blind…