Research seeks cure for common sight problems
Source: AFP |
February 15, 2013, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
RESEARCHERS in Japan have moved one step closer to clinical trials using adult stem cells in a therapy they hope will prove a cure for common sight problems.
The ethics committee at the Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation in Kobe, west Japan, on Wednesday approved a trial treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) using induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells.
The trial is aimed at creating retinal cells that can be transplanted into the eyes of patients suffering from AMD, a presently incurable disease that affects mostly middle-aged and older people and can lead to blindness.
The institute, together with the government-backed research institute Riken, "will submit an application for a clinical trial with Riken to the Health Ministry by the end of next month," hospital official Kosuke Nagi said yesterday.
If a clinical trial using iPS cells is approved, it "would be the first ever," a health ministry official said, adding a trial using embryonic stem cells - harvested from human embryos - had been undertaken by an American company.
The ministry's deliberation process will take a few months before approval, the official said.
Stem cells - infant cells that develop into the specialized tissues of the body - have sparked great excitement because they offer the chance of rebuilding organs damaged by disease or accident.
Until fairly recently, the only way to obtain stem cells was to harvest them from embryos.
The ethics committee at the Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation in Kobe, west Japan, on Wednesday approved a trial treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) using induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells.
The trial is aimed at creating retinal cells that can be transplanted into the eyes of patients suffering from AMD, a presently incurable disease that affects mostly middle-aged and older people and can lead to blindness.
The institute, together with the government-backed research institute Riken, "will submit an application for a clinical trial with Riken to the Health Ministry by the end of next month," hospital official Kosuke Nagi said yesterday.
If a clinical trial using iPS cells is approved, it "would be the first ever," a health ministry official said, adding a trial using embryonic stem cells - harvested from human embryos - had been undertaken by an American company.
The ministry's deliberation process will take a few months before approval, the official said.
Stem cells - infant cells that develop into the specialized tissues of the body - have sparked great excitement because they offer the chance of rebuilding organs damaged by disease or accident.
Until fairly recently, the only way to obtain stem cells was to harvest them from embryos.
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