by Dan Roberts April 2003 Accutane, a prescription drug used to treat acne, has been shown to inhibit the development of lipofuscin deposits in the retinas of rodent models. This is promising news for people with Stargardt’s disease. The author of the study is Dr. Gabriel Travis, professor of ophthalmology and biological chemistry at the [Read More]
Category: Research and Developments
New Retinal Vessels Formed From Stem Cells
by Dan Roberts August, 2002 Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have succeeded in forming new retinal blood vessels in mice with ocular disease. The process uses “pluripotent” adult stem cells, which are derived from bone marrow and injected into the vitreous of the eyeball. When in place, these cells develop into endothelial cells [Read More]
New MD Gene Discovered
by Dan Roberts August, 2002 Researchers at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center have discovered a genetic link to a form of macular degeneration. In an article published in August 2002 in Genome (“X-Linked Recessive Atrophic Macular Degeneration from RPGR Mutation,” pp. 166-171, doi:10.1006/geno.2002.6815, Radha Ayyagari, et al) the gene RPGR (associated until now [Read More]
Carbon Dioxide May Improve Vision in AMD Patients
by Dan Roberts April 2002 AMD patients are benefitting from a new combination drug therapy being tested at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSC). The therapy involves a combination of medicines which includes carbon dioxide, an element which dilates the blood vessels in the retina for the maintenance of proper [Read More]
Cells From The Iris May Replace Retinal Photoreceptors
by Dan Roberts November 2001 An online publication of the December 2001 publication of Nature Neuroscience has reported that, with genetic manipulation, cells from the iris may be able to replace photoreceptor cells in the retina. In recent experiments, Dr. Masatoshi Haruta of Kyoto University and colleagues took iris cells from rat eyes, then introduced [Read More]