Lab-grown retinal cells show promise for new eye therapies

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to grow specialized blood vessel cells critical to retinal health for the first time. When injected into mouse models of retinal disease, these "retinal endothelial cells" integrated into the damaged tissue to regenerate blood vessels and restore retinal function. Researchers also demonstrated the cells' ability to form functional retinal vascular tissue in a lab-grown environment, providing a pathway to model and research various eye diseases.