Scientists create 'mini-retina' in lab dish

In another step towards reversing degenerative vision loss, scientists said Tuesday they had coaxed stem cells into growing into a tiny, light-sensing retina in a lab dish. The study is an important technical feat in using reprogrammed cells, whose discovery in 2006 has unleashed huge interest, they said. "We have basically created a miniature human retina in a dish that not only has the architectural organisation of the retina but also has the ability to sense light," said Valeria Canto-Soler of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.
The work is the latest advance towards the goal of creating transplant cells that reverse damage to the retina, the light-capturing surface on the back of the eyeball. Stem cells are infant cells that develop, or differentiate, into the various tissues of the body.