
Human Cadavers Offer potential treatment for blindness.
A recent study from Stem Cell Reports https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2020.12.007
Found that Healthy retinal Pigment Epithelial cells implanted beneath the macula of blind monkeys
restored at least some vision without serious or deadly side effects.
The Retinal Pigmented Epithelium or RPE is a central part of the macula which functions to capture
central vision in our eyes. RPE dysfunction is associated with several eye disorders including Age Related
Macular Degeneration, which affects 200 million people or more worldwide leading to vision loss or
blindness. The study suggests that Human cadaver donor cells can be safely transplanted beneath the
macula in monkeys they appear to partially replace host RPE function. The Transplanted RPE placed
under primate macula’s remained stable for at least 3 months according to the study.
This suggests that RPE transplants could be a possible treatment for macular degeneration.
More research is needed to find out whether RPE derived from human cadavers can restore any vision in
human patients.