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Johns Hopkins researchers develop method to turn stem cells into retinal ganglion cells

Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a method to efficiently turn human stem cells into retinal ganglion cells, the type of nerve cells located within the retina that transmit visual signals from the eye to the brain. Death and dysfunction of these cells cause vision loss in conditions like glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.

1 Dec 2015

Researchers begin landmark clinical study to restore normal insulin secretion in people with type 1 diabetes

Investigators at Montreal's Lady Davis Institute at the Jewish General Hospital and McGill University Health Centre have announced the start of a landmark clinical study aimed at restoring normal insulin secretion in people with longstanding type 1 diabetes.

26 Nov 2015

Mechatronic engineers create bracelet that makes mobility simpler and safer for blind people

The technological development has international recognition and has sparked interest for industrial production by a manufacturer in the medical sector.

22 Nov 2015

New study reveals better treatment options for proliferative diabetic retinopathy

This National Diabetes Month, there is some good news for people with eye complications from diabetes. Earlier this month, a network of researchers supported by the National Eye Institute (NEI) found that the drug Lucentis (ranibizumab) can be highly effective for treating proliferative diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease that can occur as a complication of diabetes.

20 Nov 2015

Sound deprivation causes irreversible damage to the inner ear

Massachusetts Eye and Ear investigators have shown that sound deprivation in adult mice causes irreversible damage to the inner ear. The findings, published in PLOS ONE, suggest that chronic conductive hearing loss, such as that caused by recurrent ear infections, leads to permanent hearing impairment if it remains untreated.

19 Nov 2015

Dartmouth study reveals the brain's visual pathways

A Dartmouth study reveals how the brain understands motion and still objects to help us navigate our complex visual world.

19 Nov 2015

NSU collaborates with Karolinska Institutet to conduct cell-based biomedical research

Nova Southeastern University is now at the forefront of conducting pioneering cell-based biomedical research with the launch of the new NSU Cell Therapy Institute, an international collaboration with prominent medical research scientists from Sweden's world-renowned Karolinska Institutet (KI).

17 Nov 2015

Researchers find ranibizumab drug as effective alternative to laser therapy for treating diabetic retinopathy

In a randomized clinical trial of more than 300 participants, researchers from Johns Hopkins and elsewhere have found that ranibizumab — a drug most commonly used to treat retinal swelling in people with diabetes — is an effective alternative to laser therapy for treating the most severe, potentially blinding form of diabetic retinal disease. Results of the government-sponsored study also show that the drug therapy carries fewer side effects than the currently used laser treatment.

17 Nov 2015

Augmented microscopy may allow neurosurgeons to clearly distinguish cancerous from healthy tissue

Researchers at the University of Arizona have invented a device that for the first time allows neurosurgeons, who use microscopes extensively while operating, to see blood flowing inside vessels and more clearly distinguish cancerous from healthy tissue under the microscope.

17 Nov 2015

Improved gene therapy treatment shows promise in mice with cystic fibrosis

An improved gene therapy treatment can cure mice with cystic fibrosis (CF). Cell cultures from CF patients, too, respond well to the treatment. Those are the encouraging results of a study presented by the Laboratory for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy at KU Leuven, Belgium.

17 Nov 2015

Tyrogenex announces results from phase 1 study of orally-administered X-82 in patients with AMD

Tyrogenex, a privately held company focused on the development of targeted therapeutics for cancer and ophthalmology, today announced data from its phase 1 open-label study of orally-administered X-82 in patients for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

15 Nov 2015

Ranibizumab may become reasonable treatment alternative for patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Among patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy, treatment with an injection in the eye of the drug ranibizumab resulted in visual acuity that was not worse than panretinal photocoagulation at 2 years, according to a study appearing in JAMA.

15 Nov 2015

Measles vaccination plays key role in reducing child mortality

The number of measles-related deaths has decreased 79% from 546 800 at the beginning of the century to 114 900 in 2014. New data released by WHO for the Measles & Rubella Initiative, estimates that 17.1 million lives have been saved since 2000, largely due to increased vaccination coverage against this highly contagious viral disease.

13 Nov 2015

AAO recognizes outstanding eye physicians and surgeons for innovation in patient care

The American Academy of Ophthalmology will pay tribute to outstanding eye physicians and surgeons who have made significant achievements in various areas of the profession. These range from scientific innovation and humanitarian service to education and advocacy. The honorees will be recognized AAO 2015, the Academy's 119th annual meeting in Las Vegas.

13 Nov 2015

L-DOPA drug may delay or prevent age-related macular degeneration

A drug already used safely to treat Parkinson's disease, restless leg syndrome and other movement disorders also could delay or prevent the most common cause of blindness affecting more than 9 million older Americans - age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

10 Nov 2015

Drug used to treat Parkinson's and related diseases may delay or prevent macular degeneration

In a major scientific breakthrough, a drug used to treat Parkinson's and related diseases may be able to delay or prevent macular degeneration, the most common form of blindness among older Americans.

10 Nov 2015

Nightstar announces $35 million Series B financing round

NightstaRx Ltd, a biopharmaceutical company specialising in developing gene therapies for inherited retinal dystrophies, announces a $35 million Series B financing round. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates, one of the world's leading venture capital firms.

9 Nov 2015

UCSF scientists identify eye drop chemical that may reverse cataracts

A chemical that could potentially be used in eye drops to reverse cataracts, the leading cause of blindness, has been identified by a team of scientists from UC San Francisco (UCSF), the University of Michigan (U-M), and Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL).

6 Nov 2015

Oxford professor wins Heinrich Wieland Prize for pioneering method that helps control nerve cells with light

Gero Miesenböck was the first to insert a light-controlled on/off switch into brain cells. His pioneering method allows scientists to switch nerve cells on and off selectively and observe how the behaviour of, for example, fruit flies or mice changes as a result. In this way, researchers can learn in a step-by-step process what behaviour the studied brain circuits control and what goes awry in disease. For his method, hailed as a "breakthrough of the decade," Professor Gero Miesenböck of the University of Oxford will receive the 100,000-euro Heinrich Wieland Prize of the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation in Munich on November 6, 2015.

4 Nov 2015

Discovery offers promising alternative to current therapies for AMD and ROP

A research team led by scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the University of New Mexico School of Medicine has identified a small molecule that treats animal models of aged macular degeneration (AMD) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) by preventing the overgrowth of blood vessels that are characteristic of these two retinal diseases.

3 Nov 2015

Blindness News and Research

Johns Hopkins researchers develop method to turn stem cells into retinal ganglion cells

Researchers begin landmark clinical study to restore normal insulin secretion in people with type 1 diabetes

Mechatronic engineers create bracelet that makes mobility simpler and safer for blind people

New study reveals better treatment options for proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Sound deprivation causes irreversible damage to the inner ear

Dartmouth study reveals the brain's visual pathways

NSU collaborates with Karolinska Institutet to conduct cell-based biomedical research

Researchers find ranibizumab drug as effective alternative to laser therapy for treating diabetic retinopathy

Augmented microscopy may allow neurosurgeons to clearly distinguish cancerous from healthy tissue

Improved gene therapy treatment shows promise in mice with cystic fibrosis

Tyrogenex announces results from phase 1 study of orally-administered X-82 in patients with AMD

Ranibizumab may become reasonable treatment alternative for patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Measles vaccination plays key role in reducing child mortality

AAO recognizes outstanding eye physicians and surgeons for innovation in patient care

L-DOPA drug may delay or prevent age-related macular degeneration

Drug used to treat Parkinson's and related diseases may delay or prevent macular degeneration

Nightstar announces $35 million Series B financing round

UCSF scientists identify eye drop chemical that may reverse cataracts

Oxford professor wins Heinrich Wieland Prize for pioneering method that helps control nerve cells with light

Discovery offers promising alternative to current therapies for AMD and ROP

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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