Hope for blind as scientists find stem cell reservoir in human eye

And researchers were amazed to find that the cells even existed in the eyes of a 97-year-old, opening up the possibility that the treatment could work for the elderly.

These cells are readily accessible, and they have surprising plasticity, which makes them an attractive cell resource for future therapies, said Professor Andrew Lotery, of the University of Southampton and a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Southampton General Hospital led the study.

This would help avoid complications with rejection or contamination because the cells taken from the eye would be returned to the same patient.

More research is now needed to develop this approach before these cells are used in patients.

The loss of photoreceptors cells causes irreversible blindness.

Age related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in the developed world which affects around one in three people in the UK by age 75.

Around 513,000 people are in the late stage of AMD and that figure is set to rise by one-third over the next decade, totalling nearly 700,000 cases by 2020.

Almost two million people in the UK are living with sight loss, approximately one person in 30.

It is predicted that by 2020 the number of people with sight loss will rise to over 2,250,000. By 2050, the number of people with sight loss in the UK will double to nearly four million.

There is currently no treatment for blindness caused by the loss of photo-receptors.

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Hope for blind as scientists find stem cell reservoir in human eye