Stem cell therapy may avert blindness

British scientists hope to deliver the world's first stem-cell treatment for blindness within five years.

A team of leading researchers and clinicians is being assembled for the project, which will use embryonic stem cells to repair damaged retinas. Their target is age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness among the elderly in the developed world.

About a quarter of people over the age of 60 in the UK have some degree of vision loss caused by AMD. In Europe as a whole, an estimated 14 million people suffer blindness because of the condition.

The scientists, led by teams from University College London, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, and the University of Sheffield, plan to transplant cells created in the laboratory into the eyes of patients.

They are confident of success, and predict that in 10 years' time the hour-long operation will be a routine day-surgery procedure.

Dr Lyndon da Cruz, a team member and consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Moorfields, said: "Given that AMD could affect up to one third of the population by 2070, the potential to create a treatment strategy for this condition is critical and may have a major impact on vision loss in the community."