In what could be termed as the blessing of science and technology for mankind, researchers have developed a miniature human retina in the laboratory from human stem cells and they claim it can sense light.

The research was done by scientists at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.  Assistant Professor, M. Valena Canto-Soler of John Hopkins University School of Medicine was the lead author of the study.

The researchers created a 3D complement of human retinal tissue in a dish in the lab. They say the lens includes photoreceptor stem cells that are able to respond to light.

Scientists say the newly developed equipment clears the first step in the process of converting light into images as it is able to respond to light well.

The researchers arrived at their creation following the experiment of human induced adult cells, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), which are capable of developing into most of the 200 cell types in the human body.  Pluripotent stem cells (iPS) are generated directly from adult cells.

For the latest study, the researched turned the iPS cells into retinal progenitor cells that form light-sensitive retinal tissue that lines the back of the eye.

The researchers are hopeful that the new creation will help in developing further technologies that can restore vision.

A study  funded by the National Institutes of Health, published in the Journal Natural Communications.

Article Source:   Utah People Post