Scientists take a step forward to treat blindness with retinas grown in a lab. They were able to recreate light-sensitive eye cells that they had grown in the lab.

Experts say that this is a necessary step before the cells can be transplanted into patients to treat a variety of eye diseases.

At the back of the eye is a thin layer called the retina. It is in charge of turning light into signals that the brain reads as sight.

Key facts!

• The goal that researchers had set for themselves was to grow retinal cells in a lab.
• So that they can later put these cells back into the eye to fix or replace tissue that has been damaged or is sick.
• In 2014, the researchers were able to make structures that looked and worked just like a real retina.
• They were able to do this by changing the way that human skin cells work.
• Then, these cells changed into many different kinds of retinal cells.
• The researchers were also able to get the retinal cells they grew in the lab to react to light.
• They also linked up with cells that were right next to them.
• Cells are able to do this because they have extensions called axons that allow them to connect with each other.
• A synapse forms a chemical link between the cells.
• The team also took groups of retinal cells apart and then watched how the cells reconnected.
• This was done to make sure that connections were made that would work.
• According to researchers, the next step that makes the most sense is to do clinical tests on people.

Dr Binocs from Peekaboo Kidz shares information about the human eye.

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