Stem Cells and Reading

There are many controversial discussions going on today regarding stem cell research.

Doctors have taken stem cells from a dead donor and transplanted them into a blind woman, allowing her to see for the first time in years.The pioneering surgery was carried out on Deborah Catlyn, who was blind in one eye through a childhood accident and lost the sight in her other eye after acid was thrown in her face at a nightclub.She feared she would not see her new daughter, Miracle, but just a month after the baby was born, Deborah had the operation.

      Surgeons grew the cells in a laboratory to form a thin layer and after 12 days the sheet of stem cells was draped over the front of Deborahs eye and held in place by a biological bandage made from part of a placenta.

      Within three weeks the bandage melted away, leaving the stem cells to repair the cornea - the transparent window at the front of the eye. This could reduce the need for reading glasses for many people.

      Deborah had been told she would be blind for life but her sight is good enough for her to drive and to read with the help of reading glasses.

      More than 20 patients have had the operation at the Queen Victoria Hospital in Sussex and surgeons believe the risks involved are far lower than in a traditional cornea transplant.

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