In July 2015, 86-year-old Douglas Waters developed severe age-related macular degeneration (AMD). He struggled to see things clearly, even when up close. A few months later, he became part of a clinical trial that used stem cell-derived ocular cells developed in part by researchers at UC Santa Barbara. His retinal eyepatch was implanted at Moorfields Eye Hospital, a National Health Service (NHS) facility in Waters' hometown of London, England.
In the months before Waters' surgery, his vision was poor and he couldn't see anything out of his right eye. After the surgery, his eyesight improved so much that he could read the newspaper and help his wife with gardening.
The results of this groundbreaking clinical study, published in Nature Biotechnology, describe the safe and effective implantation of a specially engineered patch of retinal pigment epithelium cells derived from stem cells to treat people with sudden severe sight loss from wet AMD - the form that afflicted Waters. This is the first description of a completely engineered tissue that has been successfully used in this way.
Read more: http://www.pharmanews.eu/research/1796-stem-cells-treat-macular-degeneration