December 2013
His team plans on reproducing
the whole process with human embryonic stem cells. "That's the next
stage before we can start to think
about taking this into a clinical trial
and seeing whether we can restore
vision in patients who have lost
photoreceptors," he said. However, a
clinical trial on this is at least five
years away. Also, while to date most
of the work has been focused on rod
transplantation, simply because this
is easier, Dr. Ali thinks that the emphasis going forward will likely shift
to cones. For macular degeneration,
replacing a relatively few cones
might be highly effective, he said.
"You only have 200,000 cones (in
the eye), and in the fovea, which
you need for central vision, you
have 20,000 cones," Dr. Ali said.
"We could have a high impact by
transplanting a relatively few cells—
that's what we would like to investigate." EW
Editors' note: Dr. Ali has no financial
interests related to this article.
Source: Colin Chu
51
Contact information
Ali: 44-207-608-4023, R.ali@ucl.ac.uk
Save the Date!
Saturday, April 26, 2014
7:00 – 9:30 AM
2014 ASCRS ASOA
Symposium & Congress
3D reconstruction of a transplanted
photoreceptor (green) generated from
3D culture of embryonic stem cells.
The newly integrated cell resembles a
typical rod photoreceptor.
EW RETINA
Boston Convention
and Exhibition Center
www.eyeworld.org
CME credit is not available for
Corporate Mornings programs.
