Towards Tissue Engineered Corneas
From the Hindustan Times: "Half a dozen eye hospitals in India are collaborating with a research centre in Chennai to create the inner layer of the cornea, the vital window of the human eye. ... Nichi-In Centre for Regenerative Medicine (NCRM) hopes to make corneal endothelium (inside cell layer) available on a commercial scale ... About 100,000 people are in need of eye transplant every year, yet only about 10,000 are able to get donated eyes. The wait for a donor can be endless for the other 90,000. Imagine what a boon it will be if an eye stem cell bank could provide these lab generated endothelial layer of the cornea ... The eye has three main parts. The first is the cornea, which is a transparent film like structure that transmits light into the eye. The other two are the lens and retina. During eye transplant, only the cornea is taken from the donor, not the whole eye. ... Nichi-In is now growing the animal and human corneal inner layer cells on a nano-scaffolding. The research centre is hoping to begin phase I clinical trials on humans in six months."
Link: http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=34901c8e-1148-44b8-ae83-395922ea0f64