Researchers may be closer to an AMD treatment

March 30, 2011

Those who suffer from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) sometimes do not have the option of receiving treatment because the disease has progressed too much. However, scientists are currently working on a method using stem cells that could potentially help AMD patients.

Researchers from the Georgetown University Medical Center have demonstrated the ability to create retinal cells from stem cells that mimic the ones that died during AMD progression. This is the first time that scientists have gotten close to creating a similar model to the dead cells.

"This is the first time that hiPS-RPE cells have been produced with the characteristics and functioning of the RPE cells in the eye. That makes these cells promising candidates for retinal regeneration therapies in age-related macular degeneration," says the study's lead author Dr. Nady Golestaneh, assistant professor in GUMC's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology.

Because of this discovery, the scientists are hopeful that stem cell treatments could soon become a reality for those who suffer from AMD.