Light-sensitive "eye-in-a-dish" created from stem cells

According to RPB Special Scholar Awardee Dr. Valeria Canto-Soler, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: "We have basically created a miniature human retina in a dish that not only has the architectural organization of the retina but also has the ability to sense light." In the long term, these structures could be used to study the causes of retinal diseases, to test drugs tailored to individual patients, and possibly to replace diseased or dead retinal tissue.

Read the press release story.

Visit the Canto-Soler directed Retinal Degenerations Center.

Read a related story on collaborator Dr. David Gamm, who recently received an RPB Nelson Award for retinitis pigmentosa research.  Watch him discuss stem cell-based vision research.

June 11, 2014